Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within was 15.2% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Sub-Saharan Africa, 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 Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 15.2%.
That represents a change of up 7.0% on the previous year and down 11.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 18.4% in 1997 and was at its lowest, 3.7%, in 1961.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 18th 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 Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 3.8% | — |
| 1961 | 3.7% | -4.0% |
| 1962 | 4.1% | +11.2% |
| 1963 | 5.5% | +34.3% |
| 1964 | 11.2% | +103.0% |
| 1965 | 11.1% | -1.0% |
| 1966 | 9.5% | -14.6% |
| 1967 | 8.8% | -7.3% |
| 1968 | 11.5% | +31.0% |
| 1969 | 11.0% | -4.6% |
| 1970 | 10.3% | -6.0% |
| 1971 | 9.1% | -11.8% |
| 1972 | 9.2% | +1.1% |
| 1973 | 9.2% | +0.4% |
| 1974 | 9.1% | -1.1% |
| 1975 | 7.2% | -21.4% |
| 1976 | 6.0% | -16.3% |
| 1977 | 5.8% | -3.8% |
| 1978 | 4.9% | -15.0% |
| 1979 | 5.8% | +17.5% |
| 1980 | 10.3% | +78.9% |
| 1981 | 7.0% | -32.7% |
| 1982 | 8.1% | +17.0% |
| 1983 | 8.3% | +2.3% |
| 1984 | 9.7% | +16.7% |
| 1985 | 9.2% | -5.5% |
| 1986 | 9.8% | +6.5% |
| 1987 | 10.2% | +4.7% |
| 1988 | 9.6% | -6.0% |
| 1989 | 12.8% | +33.2% |
| 1990 | 13.1% | +2.5% |
| 1991 | 11.5% | -12.1% |
| 1992 | 11.9% | +3.3% |
| 1993 | 13.4% | +12.5% |
| 1994 | 15.6% | +16.1% |
| 1995 | 16.3% | +4.3% |
| 1996 | 18.3% | +12.8% |
| 1997 | 18.4% | +0.6% |
| 1998 | 11.0% | -40.4% |
| 1999 | 12.4% | +12.6% |
| 2000 | 18.1% | +46.2% |
| 2001 | 17.1% | -5.5% |
| 2002 | 17.6% | +3.0% |
| 2003 | 16.7% | -5.0% |
| 2004 | 16.7% | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 16.1% | -3.5% |
| 2006 | 15.0% | -7.0% |
| 2007 | 14.9% | -1.0% |
| 2008 | 14.8% | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 15.4% | +4.0% |
| 2010 | 16.2% | +5.4% |
| 2011 | 16.7% | +3.1% |
| 2012 | 17.6% | +5.2% |
| 2013 | 17.1% | -2.5% |
| 2014 | 16.0% | -6.3% |
| 2015 | 15.7% | -1.9% |
| 2016 | 15.4% | -2.2% |
| 2017 | 15.1% | -2.1% |
| 2018 | 16.8% | +11.5% |
| 2019 | 15.6% | -7.4% |
| 2020 | 16.2% | +4.0% |
| 2021 | 15.2% | -6.0% |
| 2022 | 14.2% | -6.6% |
| 2023 | 15.2% | +7.0% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 | +103.0% | 5.5% | 11.2% |
| 1980 | +78.9% | 5.8% | 10.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 8.0% | 3.7% | 11.5% | 10 |
| 1970s | 7.7% | 4.9% | 10.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 9.5% | 7.0% | 12.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 14.2% | 11.0% | 18.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 16.2% | 14.8% | 18.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.2% | 15.1% | 17.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 15.2% | 14.2% | 16.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 15 Brunei 52.3% compare
- 16 Nicaragua 50.8% compare
- 17 Hong Kong 49.6% compare
- 18 Philippines 47.5% compare
- 19 Vietnam 46.3% compare
- 20 Turkmenistan 45.2% compare
- 21 Guinea-Bissau 44.5% compare
More private sector data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Merchandise trade 44.5% (2025)
- Food imports 12.1% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 56.8% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 501.15 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 14.7% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 19.4% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 486.80 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 368.33 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2201 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 11.24 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Sub-Saharan Africa was 15.2% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 18.4% in 1997.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.7% in 1961.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 18th out of 46 groups with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa 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.