a) Agricultural Products:

Some of the most important cereal and cash crops are grown in the Indian Ocean's littoral countries. The Indian Ocean countries produce 77% of the world's rubber, 76 percent of tea, 60% of dates, 55 percent of cashew nuts, 45 percent of wool, 27% of cotton, and 20% of coffee. These cash crops are in high demand in Europe, America, and Japan. Other important crops grown in the Indian Ocean littoral countries include rice, wheat, maize, millets, lentils, dates, coconut, areca nut, oilseeds, and sugarcane. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand are among the world's top exporters of heavy wood.

b) Fisheries:

The Indian Ocean's continental shelf is abundant in sea food and fisheries, particularly shrimp and tuna fish, which are in high demand both regionally and internationally. The value of its seafood for internal consumption and export is expanding in the bordering countries. The Indian Ocean is also exploited by fishing boats from Japan, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan, primarily for shrimp and tuna.

c) Minerals:

Mineral richness abounds in the Indian Ocean. The most valuable minerals recovered from the Indian Ocean's continental shelf are oil and natural gas. The Indian Ocean is home to over 40% of the world's offshore oil output. The Persian Gulf, Indonesia's continental shelf, Malaysia's continental shelf, Australia's continental shelf, India's continental shelf, and Myanmar's continental shelf all produce oil and natural gas offshore. Along the shores of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iran, Iraq, Bombay High, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia, huge gas resources can also be found in the Persian Gulf.

The neighbouring countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, are actively exploiting beach sand rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits.

d) Other Minerals:

Some of the most important minerals may be found in the Indian Ocean's littoral countries. The littoral countries of the Indian Ocean, for example, produce 82 percent of gold, 60 percent of tin, 40 percent of antimony, 35 percent of copper, 30 percent of iron ore, 30 percent of manganese, 25 percent of nickel, 22 percent of mica, 20 percent of bauxite, and 18 percent of lead in the world.

e) Heavy Minerals:

Beach sand is abundant in the Indian Ocean. The sand is rich in heavy minerals, as well as offshore placer deposits, which are being aggressively explored by bordering nations like as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. There are also massive quantities of placers, polymetallic nodules, manganese nodules, and metalliferous nodules in addition to these minerals.

f) Non-Conventional Source of Energy:

In several sections of the Indian Ocean, there is a lot of potential for exploiting non-conventional sources of energy.

g) Trade Routes:

The Indian Ocean connects the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas via significant marine routes. It transports a large amount of petroleum and petroleum products from the Persian Gulf and Indonesian oilfields. The Indian Ocean is more calmer than the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and as a result, it was opened to trade much sooner.

h) Tourism:

The Indian Ocean's sea beaches are popular with European, American, Australian, and Japanese visitors.