Merchandise trade in Australia
Australia: Merchandise trade was 36.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Australia, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2025, merchandise trade in Australia stood at 36.0%.
That represents a change of down 0.6% on the previous year and up 23.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Australia peaked at 42.6% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 22.0%, in 1972.
That places Australia 160th out of 204 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in Australia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 25.3% | — |
| 1961 | 24.0% | -5.1% |
| 1962 | 24.5% | +2.2% |
| 1963 | 25.9% | +5.4% |
| 1964 | 26.7% | +3.3% |
| 1965 | 26.0% | -2.7% |
| 1966 | 24.8% | -4.7% |
| 1967 | 24.3% | -2.1% |
| 1968 | 24.1% | -0.8% |
| 1969 | 23.8% | -1.0% |
| 1970 | 23.7% | -0.4% |
| 1971 | 23.1% | -2.9% |
| 1972 | 22.0% | -4.4% |
| 1973 | 26.5% | +20.3% |
| 1974 | 25.8% | -2.7% |
| 1975 | 23.2% | -10.0% |
| 1976 | 24.2% | +4.0% |
| 1977 | 24.3% | +0.6% |
| 1978 | 25.3% | +3.9% |
| 1979 | 27.3% | +8.0% |
| 1980 | 29.5% | +8.2% |
| 1981 | 26.9% | -8.8% |
| 1982 | 24.7% | -8.2% |
| 1983 | 23.4% | -5.3% |
| 1984 | 25.3% | +8.1% |
| 1985 | 26.8% | +6.0% |
| 1986 | 26.6% | -0.6% |
| 1987 | 29.5% | +10.7% |
| 1988 | 29.3% | -0.6% |
| 1989 | 27.3% | -6.8% |
| 1990 | 26.2% | -4.1% |
| 1991 | 25.6% | -2.4% |
| 1992 | 26.6% | +3.9% |
| 1993 | 28.2% | +6.3% |
| 1994 | 31.2% | +10.5% |
| 1995 | 31.0% | -0.7% |
| 1996 | 31.3% | +0.8% |
| 1997 | 29.5% | -5.6% |
| 1998 | 30.1% | +2.0% |
| 1999 | 32.1% | +6.6% |
| 2000 | 32.5% | +1.2% |
| 2001 | 33.5% | +3.0% |
| 2002 | 34.7% | +3.8% |
| 2003 | 34.0% | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 31.8% | -6.5% |
| 2005 | 33.2% | +4.3% |
| 2006 | 35.0% | +5.5% |
| 2007 | 35.8% | +2.2% |
| 2008 | 36.6% | +2.3% |
| 2009 | 34.3% | -6.3% |
| 2010 | 35.9% | +4.7% |
| 2011 | 36.7% | +2.2% |
| 2012 | 33.3% | -9.3% |
| 2013 | 31.3% | -6.2% |
| 2014 | 32.4% | +3.5% |
| 2015 | 29.2% | -9.8% |
| 2016 | 32.1% | +9.9% |
| 2017 | 34.6% | +7.7% |
| 2018 | 34.4% | -0.6% |
| 2019 | 35.2% | +2.5% |
| 2020 | 34.7% | -1.5% |
| 2021 | 38.8% | +11.9% |
| 2022 | 42.6% | +9.6% |
| 2023 | 38.0% | -10.8% |
| 2024 | 36.3% | -4.5% |
| 2025 | 36.0% | -0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 24.9% | 23.8% | 26.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 24.5% | 22.0% | 27.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 26.9% | 23.4% | 29.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 29.2% | 25.6% | 32.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 34.2% | 31.8% | 36.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 33.5% | 29.2% | 36.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 37.7% | 34.7% | 42.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More private sector data for Australia
- Food imports 6.5% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 74.3% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 310.63 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 13.7% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 9.8% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 337.58 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 12,225 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1877 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate -0.9521 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 11,249 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Australia?
- Merchandise trade in Australia was 36.0% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 42.6% in 2022.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.0% in 1972.
- How does Australia rank for merchandise trade?
- Australia ranks 160th out of 204 countries with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 23.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from World Trade Organization (WTO), published as part of Merchandise trade (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
General merchandise trade includes goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.