Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in New Zealand
New Zealand: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside was 4.6% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in New Zealand, 1960–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise imports.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 4.6% for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in 2023.
That represents a change of down 8.2% on the previous year and up 15.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in New Zealand peaked at 8.3% in 1975 and was at its lowest, 2.0%, in 1986.
New Zealand ranks 175th of 206 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 5.1% | — |
| 1961 | 5.8% | +13.5% |
| 1962 | 4.4% | -23.4% |
| 1963 | 4.1% | -8.2% |
| 1964 | 3.8% | -5.7% |
| 1965 | 4.3% | +11.1% |
| 1966 | 3.7% | -13.2% |
| 1967 | 3.2% | -14.3% |
| 1968 | 4.5% | +42.4% |
| 1969 | 5.4% | +19.7% |
| 1970 | 5.2% | -4.4% |
| 1971 | 5.0% | -2.8% |
| 1972 | 4.9% | -2.1% |
| 1973 | 3.9% | -20.2% |
| 1974 | 5.3% | +35.2% |
| 1975 | 8.3% | +56.7% |
| 1976 | 8.0% | -4.0% |
| 1977 | 6.6% | -17.0% |
| 1978 | 5.0% | -24.7% |
| 1979 | 3.8% | -24.6% |
| 1980 | 2.8% | -24.9% |
| 1981 | 2.0% | -27.8% |
| 1982 | 2.3% | +10.8% |
| 1983 | 2.6% | +15.0% |
| 1984 | 2.8% | +7.2% |
| 1985 | 2.3% | -15.9% |
| 1986 | 2.0% | -14.6% |
| 1987 | 2.1% | +7.4% |
| 1988 | 2.9% | +34.9% |
| 1989 | 2.4% | -18.1% |
| 1990 | 2.0% | -15.5% |
| 1991 | 2.6% | +28.1% |
| 1992 | 2.6% | +1.1% |
| 1993 | 2.6% | +0.2% |
| 1994 | 2.7% | +4.4% |
| 1995 | 2.6% | -4.8% |
| 1996 | 2.7% | +3.7% |
| 1997 | 3.0% | +10.7% |
| 1998 | 3.7% | +26.0% |
| 1999 | 3.6% | -4.4% |
| 2000 | 4.0% | +11.3% |
| 2001 | 3.5% | -11.7% |
| 2002 | 3.8% | +7.6% |
| 2003 | 3.6% | -5.8% |
| 2004 | 4.0% | +11.1% |
| 2005 | 4.3% | +7.7% |
| 2006 | 3.8% | -11.4% |
| 2007 | 3.3% | -12.6% |
| 2008 | 4.3% | +29.6% |
| 2009 | 3.9% | -9.1% |
| 2010 | 3.8% | -2.1% |
| 2011 | 3.4% | -9.6% |
| 2012 | 4.0% | +15.8% |
| 2013 | 4.0% | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 4.2% | +4.7% |
| 2015 | 4.3% | +4.5% |
| 2016 | 4.5% | +2.8% |
| 2017 | 4.2% | -4.8% |
| 2018 | 4.5% | +6.0% |
| 2019 | 4.6% | +2.6% |
| 2020 | 4.9% | +5.9% |
| 2021 | 4.7% | -4.8% |
| 2022 | 5.0% | +6.8% |
| 2023 | 4.6% | -8.2% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 4.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 11.2%, 41% of the median. (74 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 4.6% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.1%, 1.5× the median. (36 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.4% | 3.2% | 5.8% | 10 |
| 1970s | 5.6% | 3.8% | 8.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.4% | 2.0% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.8% | 2.0% | 3.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.8% | 3.3% | 4.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.2% | 3.4% | 4.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.8% | 4.6% | 5.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More private sector data for New Zealand
- Merchandise trade 35.7% (2025)
- Food imports 12.8% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 70.7% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 47.55 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 69.0% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 14.0% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 46.70 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 8,770 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1769 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 10.43 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in New Zealand?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in New Zealand was 4.6% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 8.3% in 1975.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.0% in 1986.
- How does New Zealand rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside?
- New Zealand ranks 175th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in other World Bank regions according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.