Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Arab World
Arab World: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within was 3.5% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Arab World, 1960–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise imports.
Analysis
Arab World recorded 3.5% for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in 2023.
That represents a change of down 2.3% on the previous year and down 9.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Arab World peaked at 8.9% in 1965 and was at its lowest, 2.5%, in 1982.
That places Arab World 41st out of 46 groups with data for 2023, putting it 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 within in Arab World, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 4.6% | — |
| 1961 | 4.9% | +6.2% |
| 1962 | 3.8% | -23.5% |
| 1963 | 6.7% | +77.1% |
| 1964 | 7.2% | +7.3% |
| 1965 | 8.9% | +24.1% |
| 1966 | 6.9% | -21.9% |
| 1967 | 6.9% | -0.6% |
| 1968 | 8.4% | +21.4% |
| 1969 | 8.2% | -2.0% |
| 1970 | 7.9% | -3.8% |
| 1971 | 8.0% | +1.5% |
| 1972 | 8.1% | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 7.4% | -8.0% |
| 1974 | 7.5% | +0.6% |
| 1975 | 5.8% | -22.6% |
| 1976 | 4.9% | -15.9% |
| 1977 | 3.8% | -22.1% |
| 1978 | 3.1% | -19.2% |
| 1979 | 3.6% | +18.7% |
| 1980 | 3.3% | -8.9% |
| 1981 | 2.6% | -21.5% |
| 1982 | 2.5% | -5.1% |
| 1983 | 2.7% | +7.6% |
| 1984 | 3.3% | +22.6% |
| 1985 | 3.4% | +5.3% |
| 1986 | 3.0% | -12.3% |
| 1987 | 3.8% | +25.0% |
| 1988 | 3.4% | -9.2% |
| 1989 | 4.2% | +23.0% |
| 1990 | 4.0% | -5.4% |
| 1991 | 4.0% | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 4.1% | +2.5% |
| 1993 | 4.2% | +3.4% |
| 1994 | 4.6% | +9.9% |
| 1995 | 4.3% | -6.1% |
| 1996 | 4.3% | -1.3% |
| 1997 | 4.1% | -5.3% |
| 1998 | 3.5% | -12.8% |
| 1999 | 4.5% | +25.8% |
| 2000 | 4.5% | +1.8% |
| 2001 | 5.2% | +14.6% |
| 2002 | 5.5% | +5.7% |
| 2003 | 5.1% | -7.2% |
| 2004 | 5.9% | +15.9% |
| 2005 | 4.7% | -20.8% |
| 2006 | 5.0% | +7.2% |
| 2007 | 5.4% | +8.2% |
| 2008 | 5.9% | +9.5% |
| 2009 | 6.9% | +16.3% |
| 2010 | 6.5% | -6.1% |
| 2011 | 4.4% | -32.1% |
| 2012 | 4.5% | +1.8% |
| 2013 | 3.9% | -13.2% |
| 2014 | 3.7% | -5.8% |
| 2015 | 3.3% | -9.2% |
| 2016 | 3.9% | +16.5% |
| 2017 | 3.7% | -3.9% |
| 2018 | 4.0% | +8.0% |
| 2019 | 3.6% | -9.8% |
| 2020 | 3.8% | +3.4% |
| 2021 | 3.5% | -7.6% |
| 2022 | 3.6% | +3.8% |
| 2023 | 3.5% | -2.3% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Arab World 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 | +77.1% | 3.8% | 6.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 6.7% | 3.8% | 8.9% | 10 |
| 1970s | 6.0% | 3.1% | 8.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.2% | 2.5% | 4.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.2% | 3.5% | 4.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.4% | 4.5% | 6.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.2% | 3.3% | 6.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.6% | 3.5% | 3.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Arab World
More private sector data for Arab World
- Merchandise trade 53.7% (2025)
- Food imports 11.7% (2023)
- Manufactures imports 60.2% (2023)
- Merchandise imports 1.48 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 3.6% (2023)
- Manufactures exports 16.3% (2023)
- Merchandise exports 1.59 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 3,163 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.4193 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.39 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Arab World?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Arab World was 3.5% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Arab World?
- The highest recorded value was 8.9% in 1965.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Arab World?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.5% in 1982.
- How does Arab World rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within?
- Arab World ranks 41st out of 46 groups with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within rising or falling in Arab World?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Arab World 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.