Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Africa Western and Central
Africa Western and Central: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within was 12.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Africa Western and Central, 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 within in Africa Western and Central stood at 12.5%.
That represents a change of up 13.0% on the previous year and up 3.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Africa Western and Central peaked at 20.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 2.5%, in 1961.
Africa Western and Central ranks 25th of 46 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Africa Western and Central, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 2.7% | — |
| 1961 | 2.5% | -6.7% |
| 1962 | 3.3% | +30.8% |
| 1963 | 4.9% | +50.3% |
| 1964 | 4.3% | -13.6% |
| 1965 | 3.5% | -18.7% |
| 1966 | 3.8% | +9.4% |
| 1967 | 4.8% | +26.4% |
| 1968 | 5.5% | +14.5% |
| 1969 | 5.6% | +2.3% |
| 1970 | 4.9% | -11.9% |
| 1971 | 4.7% | -5.0% |
| 1972 | 5.8% | +22.9% |
| 1973 | 5.7% | -1.0% |
| 1974 | 6.8% | +18.4% |
| 1975 | 5.3% | -21.1% |
| 1976 | 4.0% | -24.1% |
| 1977 | 4.1% | +1.8% |
| 1978 | 3.9% | -4.4% |
| 1979 | 4.5% | +13.0% |
| 1980 | 11.8% | +165.9% |
| 1981 | 5.1% | -57.3% |
| 1982 | 6.0% | +18.5% |
| 1983 | 6.1% | +1.4% |
| 1984 | 8.3% | +37.0% |
| 1985 | 8.4% | +1.0% |
| 1986 | 8.8% | +4.9% |
| 1987 | 9.6% | +8.6% |
| 1988 | 9.7% | +1.2% |
| 1989 | 12.3% | +27.1% |
| 1990 | 12.1% | -1.7% |
| 1991 | 9.6% | -20.4% |
| 1992 | 8.9% | -8.1% |
| 1993 | 9.3% | +5.3% |
| 1994 | 10.0% | +6.7% |
| 1995 | 10.8% | +8.9% |
| 1996 | 12.3% | +13.3% |
| 1997 | 12.4% | +0.7% |
| 1998 | 11.3% | -8.5% |
| 1999 | 12.9% | +14.2% |
| 2000 | 20.0% | +54.2% |
| 2001 | 17.9% | -10.1% |
| 2002 | 14.7% | -18.0% |
| 2003 | 12.2% | -17.3% |
| 2004 | 13.4% | +9.8% |
| 2005 | 14.8% | +10.9% |
| 2006 | 13.5% | -8.9% |
| 2007 | 12.6% | -6.4% |
| 2008 | 10.9% | -13.5% |
| 2009 | 10.1% | -7.3% |
| 2010 | 11.4% | +12.4% |
| 2011 | 11.9% | +4.9% |
| 2012 | 12.6% | +5.9% |
| 2013 | 12.2% | -3.9% |
| 2014 | 9.8% | -19.1% |
| 2015 | 10.1% | +3.1% |
| 2016 | 8.6% | -15.4% |
| 2017 | 9.3% | +8.8% |
| 2018 | 9.9% | +6.0% |
| 2019 | 9.4% | -5.0% |
| 2020 | 10.6% | +13.2% |
| 2021 | 10.3% | -2.9% |
| 2022 | 11.1% | +7.6% |
| 2023 | 12.5% | +13.0% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Africa Western and Central 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | +165.9% | 4.5% | 11.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.1% | 2.5% | 5.6% | 10 |
| 1970s | 5.0% | 3.9% | 6.8% | 10 |
| 1980s | 8.6% | 5.1% | 12.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 11.0% | 8.9% | 12.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 14.0% | 10.1% | 20.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.5% | 8.6% | 12.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.2% | 10.3% | 12.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Africa Western and Central
More private sector data for Africa Western and Central
- Merchandise trade 43.1% (2025)
- Food imports 15.3% (2023)
- Manufactures imports 54.3% (2023)
- Merchandise imports 163.34 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 12.1% (2023)
- Manufactures exports 7.0% (2023)
- Merchandise exports 204.10 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 383.07 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2394 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 20.81 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Africa Western and Central?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Africa Western and Central was 12.5% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Africa Western and Central?
- The highest recorded value was 20.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Africa Western and Central?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.5% in 1961.
- How does Africa Western and Central rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within?
- Africa Western and Central ranks 25th out of 46 groups with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within rising or falling in Africa Western and Central?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Africa Western and Central data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within 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 within region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are 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. No figures are shown for high-income economies, because they are a separate category in the World Bank classification of economies.