Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Least developed countries
Least developed countries: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within was 27.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Least developed countries, 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 Least developed countries stood at 27.4%.
The figure is up 4.4% on the previous year and up 9.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Least developed countries peaked at 30.2% in 2018 and was at its lowest, 6.0%, in 1961.
Least developed countries ranks 2nd of 46 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.
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 Least developed countries, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 6.3% | — |
| 1961 | 6.0% | -5.4% |
| 1962 | 6.9% | +15.3% |
| 1963 | 8.6% | +25.2% |
| 1964 | 14.4% | +66.5% |
| 1965 | 15.1% | +5.1% |
| 1966 | 13.8% | -8.6% |
| 1967 | 13.1% | -5.0% |
| 1968 | 14.9% | +13.6% |
| 1969 | 14.6% | -2.1% |
| 1970 | 13.9% | -4.4% |
| 1971 | 13.2% | -5.7% |
| 1972 | 13.0% | -1.3% |
| 1973 | 13.7% | +5.6% |
| 1974 | 12.7% | -7.3% |
| 1975 | 11.6% | -8.7% |
| 1976 | 11.0% | -4.9% |
| 1977 | 11.1% | +0.3% |
| 1978 | 9.6% | -13.4% |
| 1979 | 9.6% | +0.1% |
| 1980 | 10.2% | +6.1% |
| 1981 | 10.1% | -1.1% |
| 1982 | 11.0% | +9.2% |
| 1983 | 11.0% | +0.2% |
| 1984 | 11.6% | +5.1% |
| 1985 | 9.9% | -14.0% |
| 1986 | 11.0% | +10.9% |
| 1987 | 10.9% | -1.5% |
| 1988 | 11.3% | +3.7% |
| 1989 | 13.1% | +16.5% |
| 1990 | 12.3% | -6.0% |
| 1991 | 11.9% | -3.1% |
| 1992 | 13.5% | +13.3% |
| 1993 | 15.9% | +17.9% |
| 1994 | 17.9% | +12.0% |
| 1995 | 19.4% | +8.5% |
| 1996 | 22.4% | +15.5% |
| 1997 | 20.7% | -7.6% |
| 1998 | 20.3% | -1.7% |
| 1999 | 21.9% | +7.9% |
| 2000 | 25.0% | +14.0% |
| 2001 | 24.2% | -3.1% |
| 2002 | 24.1% | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 25.8% | +6.9% |
| 2004 | 26.8% | +4.0% |
| 2005 | 24.7% | -7.7% |
| 2006 | 23.4% | -5.5% |
| 2007 | 23.4% | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 23.0% | -2.0% |
| 2009 | 21.8% | -5.0% |
| 2010 | 23.8% | +9.0% |
| 2011 | 25.4% | +6.6% |
| 2012 | 25.7% | +1.2% |
| 2013 | 25.0% | -2.6% |
| 2014 | 26.0% | +4.1% |
| 2015 | 25.7% | -1.2% |
| 2016 | 27.3% | +6.3% |
| 2017 | 28.0% | +2.4% |
| 2018 | 30.2% | +8.1% |
| 2019 | 29.2% | -3.5% |
| 2020 | 29.9% | +2.5% |
| 2021 | 28.4% | -5.1% |
| 2022 | 26.3% | -7.4% |
| 2023 | 27.4% | +4.4% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Least developed countries 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | +66.5% | 8.6% | 14.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 11.4% | 6.0% | 15.1% | 10 |
| 1970s | 11.9% | 9.6% | 13.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 11.0% | 9.9% | 13.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 17.6% | 11.9% | 22.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 24.2% | 21.8% | 26.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 26.6% | 23.8% | 30.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 28.0% | 26.3% | 29.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Least developed countries
- 1 Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 97.1% compare
- 2 Bhutan 91.5% compare
- 3 Lesotho 85.0% compare
- 4 Botswana 84.1% compare
- 5 Lao People's Democratic Republic 81.9% compare
More private sector data for Least developed countries
- Merchandise trade 41.4% (2025)
- Food imports 15.6% (2019)
- Manufactures imports 62.6% (2019)
- Merchandise imports 376.94 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 15.1% (2023)
- Manufactures exports 20.1% (2023)
- Merchandise exports 311.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 256.54 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1884 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 10.88 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Least developed countries?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Least developed countries was 27.4% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Least developed countries?
- The highest recorded value was 30.2% in 2018.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Least developed countries?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.0% in 1961.
- How does Least developed countries rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within?
- Least developed countries ranks 2nd out of 46 groups with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within rising or falling in Least developed countries?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Least developed countries 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.