Merchandise trade in Cape Verde
Cape Verde: Merchandise trade was 70.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Cape Verde, 1980–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Cape Verde recorded 70.0% for merchandise trade in 2025.
The figure is down 2.5% on the previous year and up 82.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Cape Verde peaked at 85.7% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 32.2%, in 1993.
That places Cape Verde 68th out of 204 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 46 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in Cape Verde, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 51.3% | — |
| 1981 | 53.1% | +3.4% |
| 1982 | 54.0% | +1.9% |
| 1983 | 65.0% | +20.3% |
| 1984 | 65.1% | +0.2% |
| 1985 | 65.3% | +0.3% |
| 1986 | 58.2% | -10.9% |
| 1987 | 45.9% | -21.1% |
| 1988 | 41.2% | -10.2% |
| 1989 | 44.5% | +7.9% |
| 1990 | 46.3% | +4.0% |
| 1991 | 47.8% | +3.4% |
| 1992 | 51.8% | +8.3% |
| 1993 | 32.2% | -37.8% |
| 1994 | 52.6% | +63.4% |
| 1995 | 53.4% | +1.4% |
| 1996 | 49.2% | -7.8% |
| 1997 | 50.8% | +3.1% |
| 1998 | 45.6% | -10.2% |
| 1999 | 43.4% | -4.9% |
| 2000 | 44.7% | +3.0% |
| 2001 | 43.3% | -3.0% |
| 2002 | 46.3% | +6.7% |
| 2003 | 44.8% | -3.2% |
| 2004 | 48.2% | +7.7% |
| 2005 | 46.9% | -2.7% |
| 2006 | 50.8% | +8.4% |
| 2007 | 46.6% | -8.3% |
| 2008 | 43.7% | -6.2% |
| 2009 | 40.2% | -8.2% |
| 2010 | 43.1% | +7.2% |
| 2011 | 49.6% | +15.2% |
| 2012 | 43.0% | -13.4% |
| 2013 | 39.1% | -8.9% |
| 2014 | 41.5% | +6.1% |
| 2015 | 38.3% | -7.7% |
| 2016 | 58.2% | +51.8% |
| 2017 | 66.0% | +13.3% |
| 2018 | 78.3% | +18.7% |
| 2019 | 67.7% | -13.5% |
| 2020 | 65.7% | -3.0% |
| 2021 | 68.7% | +4.5% |
| 2022 | 85.7% | +24.8% |
| 2023 | 70.1% | -18.2% |
| 2024 | 71.7% | +2.3% |
| 2025 | 70.0% | -2.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 54.4% | 41.2% | 65.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 47.3% | 32.2% | 53.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 45.6% | 40.2% | 50.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 52.5% | 38.3% | 78.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 72.0% | 65.7% | 85.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Cape Verde
More private sector data for Cape Verde
- Food imports 32.6% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 50.8% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 2.04 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 86.4% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 13.6% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 96.00 million current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 182.05 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.0314 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 23.08 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 3,874 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Cape Verde?
- Merchandise trade in Cape Verde was 70.0% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Cape Verde?
- The highest recorded value was 85.7% in 2022.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Cape Verde?
- The lowest recorded value was 32.2% in 1993.
- How does Cape Verde rank for merchandise trade?
- Cape Verde ranks 68th out of 204 countries with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Cape Verde?
- Over the last ten years it is up 82.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Cape Verde 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 — 46 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.