Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Thailand
Thailand: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside was 6.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Thailand, 1960–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise imports.
Analysis
In 2023, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Thailand stood at 6.6%.
The figure is down 13.0% on the previous year and down 1.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Thailand peaked at 7.6% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 1961.
Thailand ranks 165th of 206 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Thailand, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 2.1% | — |
| 1961 | 1.7% | -20.1% |
| 1962 | 3.6% | +118.2% |
| 1963 | 2.2% | -40.1% |
| 1964 | 3.8% | +76.2% |
| 1965 | 4.5% | +18.2% |
| 1966 | 4.9% | +7.1% |
| 1967 | 3.7% | -24.0% |
| 1968 | 3.0% | -18.0% |
| 1969 | 3.9% | +28.5% |
| 1970 | 3.7% | -4.6% |
| 1971 | 2.7% | -28.4% |
| 1972 | 2.7% | -0.1% |
| 1973 | 2.4% | -8.3% |
| 1974 | 2.6% | +8.1% |
| 1975 | 3.8% | +46.1% |
| 1976 | 4.9% | +28.2% |
| 1977 | 4.5% | -9.1% |
| 1978 | 3.4% | -24.5% |
| 1979 | 2.5% | -26.2% |
| 1980 | 2.8% | +13.5% |
| 1981 | 2.5% | -10.9% |
| 1982 | 2.7% | +7.7% |
| 1983 | 3.1% | +13.4% |
| 1984 | 3.4% | +10.3% |
| 1985 | 3.9% | +13.8% |
| 1986 | 4.5% | +16.4% |
| 1987 | 4.7% | +3.4% |
| 1988 | 5.1% | +9.9% |
| 1989 | 5.7% | +10.8% |
| 1990 | 5.5% | -3.0% |
| 1991 | 6.5% | +18.8% |
| 1992 | 4.4% | -31.9% |
| 1993 | 4.1% | -8.5% |
| 1994 | 3.8% | -7.5% |
| 1995 | 4.0% | +5.6% |
| 1996 | 5.4% | +34.5% |
| 1997 | 5.6% | +5.3% |
| 1998 | 5.3% | -6.4% |
| 1999 | 6.4% | +20.7% |
| 2000 | 6.5% | +2.2% |
| 2001 | 5.9% | -9.2% |
| 2002 | 6.2% | +4.8% |
| 2003 | 6.4% | +3.0% |
| 2004 | 6.7% | +4.7% |
| 2005 | 5.5% | -17.7% |
| 2006 | 5.7% | +3.5% |
| 2007 | 5.9% | +3.5% |
| 2008 | 6.9% | +17.3% |
| 2009 | 5.7% | -17.2% |
| 2010 | 5.3% | -6.7% |
| 2011 | 5.8% | +9.0% |
| 2012 | 6.5% | +12.0% |
| 2013 | 6.7% | +3.0% |
| 2014 | 6.5% | -3.3% |
| 2015 | 4.8% | -26.0% |
| 2016 | 5.1% | +6.0% |
| 2017 | 5.6% | +10.6% |
| 2018 | 6.1% | +7.8% |
| 2019 | 6.1% | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 6.6% | +6.9% |
| 2021 | 7.5% | +13.7% |
| 2022 | 7.6% | +1.4% |
| 2023 | 6.6% | -13.0% |
Thailand compared with similar countries
- Thailand's 6.6% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 20.2%, 33% of the median. (59 countries reporting)
- Thailand's 6.6% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.1%, 2.1× the median. (36 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Thailand 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | +118.2% | 1.7% | 3.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.3% | 1.7% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 1970s | 3.3% | 2.4% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.8% | 2.5% | 5.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.1% | 3.8% | 6.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.1% | 5.5% | 6.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.9% | 4.8% | 6.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.0% | 6.6% | 7.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Thailand
More private sector data for Thailand
- Merchandise trade 118.6% (2025)
- Food imports 6.6% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 65.8% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 344.94 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 14.7% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 72.1% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 339.63 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 4,742 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.5886 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 12.93 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Thailand?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Thailand was 6.6% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in Thailand?
- The highest recorded value was 7.6% in 2022.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in Thailand?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 1961.
- How does Thailand rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside?
- Thailand ranks 165th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside rising or falling in Thailand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Thailand 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.