Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Singapore
Singapore: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside was 5.3% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Singapore, 1960–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise imports.
Analysis
Singapore recorded 5.3% for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.8% on the previous year and down 10.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Singapore peaked at 10.5% in 1963 and was at its lowest, 2.6%, in 1996.
That places Singapore 174th out of 206 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 59 years of available data.
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Singapore, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 3.9% | — |
| 1962 | 4.7% | +21.3% |
| 1963 | 10.5% | +121.9% |
| 1968 | 7.3% | -30.5% |
| 1969 | 7.0% | -3.2% |
| 1970 | 6.2% | -11.9% |
| 1971 | 5.3% | -14.5% |
| 1972 | 6.1% | +15.4% |
| 1973 | 6.3% | +2.8% |
| 1974 | 8.8% | +39.1% |
| 1975 | 9.2% | +5.6% |
| 1976 | 7.6% | -17.5% |
| 1977 | 8.9% | +16.6% |
| 1978 | 8.1% | -8.5% |
| 1979 | 7.4% | -9.3% |
| 1980 | 4.1% | -44.6% |
| 1981 | 3.4% | -15.6% |
| 1982 | 6.4% | +84.7% |
| 1983 | 5.4% | -15.5% |
| 1984 | 3.2% | -41.1% |
| 1985 | 6.8% | +116.0% |
| 1986 | 6.0% | -11.7% |
| 1987 | 3.6% | -40.4% |
| 1988 | 3.3% | -9.5% |
| 1989 | 3.3% | +0.7% |
| 1990 | 3.2% | -2.6% |
| 1991 | 3.2% | -0.7% |
| 1992 | 3.5% | +9.9% |
| 1993 | 3.4% | -2.9% |
| 1994 | 2.8% | -16.2% |
| 1995 | 2.7% | -4.1% |
| 1996 | 2.6% | -4.8% |
| 1997 | 2.8% | +8.7% |
| 1998 | 3.0% | +6.8% |
| 1999 | 3.2% | +4.9% |
| 2000 | 3.4% | +6.6% |
| 2001 | 3.4% | -0.4% |
| 2002 | 3.5% | +3.9% |
| 2003 | 3.5% | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 4.3% | +23.9% |
| 2005 | 4.5% | +4.4% |
| 2006 | 4.4% | -3.1% |
| 2007 | 4.3% | -0.8% |
| 2008 | 5.0% | +16.2% |
| 2009 | 4.7% | -6.8% |
| 2010 | 5.7% | +21.6% |
| 2011 | 6.5% | +13.4% |
| 2012 | 6.3% | -2.5% |
| 2013 | 5.9% | -6.3% |
| 2014 | 5.9% | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 4.8% | -20.0% |
| 2016 | 4.9% | +3.0% |
| 2017 | 5.5% | +12.6% |
| 2018 | 5.6% | +0.9% |
| 2019 | 5.8% | +3.7% |
| 2020 | 5.3% | -7.3% |
| 2021 | 5.8% | +8.9% |
| 2022 | 5.6% | -4.2% |
| 2023 | 5.3% | -4.8% |
Singapore compared with similar countries
- Singapore's 5.3% is below the median for high income countries, which is 11.2%, 47% of the median. (74 countries reporting)
- Singapore's 5.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.1%, 1.7× the median. (36 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Singapore changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | +121.9% | 4.7% | 10.5% |
| 1985 | +116.0% | 3.2% | 6.8% |
| 1982 | +84.7% | 3.4% | 6.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 6.7% | 3.9% | 10.5% | 5 |
| 1970s | 7.4% | 5.3% | 9.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.6% | 3.2% | 6.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.0% | 2.6% | 3.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.1% | 3.4% | 5.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.7% | 4.8% | 6.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.5% | 5.3% | 5.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Singapore
More private sector data for Singapore
- Merchandise trade 177.6% (2025)
- Food imports 3.7% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 70.9% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 505.84 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 2.8% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 74.5% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 566.87 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 92,760 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.9387 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 12.11 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Singapore?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Singapore was 5.3% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in Singapore?
- The highest recorded value was 10.5% in 1963.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in Singapore?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.6% in 1996.
- How does Singapore rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside?
- Singapore ranks 174th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside rising or falling in Singapore?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Singapore 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 — 59 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.