Merchandise trade in Canada
Canada: Merchandise trade was 48.8% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Canada, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Canada recorded 48.8% for merchandise trade in 2025.
That represents a change of down 2.9% on the previous year and down 9.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Canada peaked at 70.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 29.3%, in 1963.
Canada ranks 111th of 204 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in Canada, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 29.3% | — |
| 1961 | 29.6% | +1.0% |
| 1962 | 29.4% | -0.8% |
| 1963 | 29.3% | -0.3% |
| 1964 | 31.2% | +6.5% |
| 1965 | 31.3% | +0.3% |
| 1966 | 32.8% | +4.7% |
| 1967 | 33.1% | +1.1% |
| 1968 | 35.3% | +6.6% |
| 1969 | 35.7% | +1.1% |
| 1970 | 35.2% | -1.4% |
| 1971 | 35.0% | -0.7% |
| 1972 | 36.3% | +3.9% |
| 1973 | 38.8% | +6.8% |
| 1974 | 42.7% | +10.0% |
| 1975 | 40.2% | -5.8% |
| 1976 | 39.0% | -3.1% |
| 1977 | 40.3% | +3.4% |
| 1978 | 43.2% | +7.1% |
| 1979 | 47.1% | +9.2% |
| 1980 | 47.4% | +0.6% |
| 1981 | 46.5% | -2.0% |
| 1982 | 41.1% | -11.5% |
| 1983 | 41.4% | +0.7% |
| 1984 | 47.1% | +13.8% |
| 1985 | 46.9% | -0.5% |
| 1986 | 46.4% | -1.0% |
| 1987 | 44.0% | -5.1% |
| 1988 | 45.1% | +2.4% |
| 1989 | 42.6% | -5.6% |
| 1990 | 42.1% | -1.2% |
| 1991 | 41.1% | -2.3% |
| 1992 | 44.4% | +7.9% |
| 1993 | 49.1% | +10.6% |
| 1994 | 55.3% | +12.6% |
| 1995 | 59.5% | +7.7% |
| 1996 | 59.8% | +0.4% |
| 1997 | 63.4% | +6.1% |
| 1998 | 66.3% | +4.6% |
| 1999 | 67.6% | +2.0% |
| 2000 | 70.0% | +3.6% |
| 2001 | 65.9% | -5.8% |
| 2002 | 63.1% | -4.3% |
| 2003 | 57.8% | -8.4% |
| 2004 | 58.1% | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 58.2% | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 56.6% | -2.7% |
| 2007 | 55.2% | -2.5% |
| 2008 | 56.4% | +2.1% |
| 2009 | 47.0% | -16.6% |
| 2010 | 48.9% | +4.0% |
| 2011 | 51.0% | +4.4% |
| 2012 | 51.0% | -0.1% |
| 2013 | 50.6% | -0.8% |
| 2014 | 52.7% | +4.2% |
| 2015 | 54.0% | +2.4% |
| 2016 | 52.5% | -2.7% |
| 2017 | 52.4% | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 53.4% | +1.9% |
| 2019 | 52.3% | -2.1% |
| 2020 | 49.0% | -6.2% |
| 2021 | 50.2% | +2.5% |
| 2022 | 54.0% | +7.4% |
| 2023 | 51.9% | -3.8% |
| 2024 | 50.3% | -3.2% |
| 2025 | 48.8% | -2.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 31.7% | 29.3% | 35.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 39.8% | 35.0% | 47.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 44.9% | 41.1% | 47.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 54.9% | 41.1% | 67.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 58.8% | 47.0% | 70.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 51.9% | 48.9% | 54.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 50.7% | 48.8% | 54.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More private sector data for Canada
- Food imports 9.2% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 75.5% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 577.44 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 13.5% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 42.3% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 554.68 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 13,317 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2391 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate -2.3 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 13,864 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Canada?
- Merchandise trade in Canada was 48.8% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 70.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 29.3% in 1963.
- How does Canada rank for merchandise trade?
- Canada ranks 111th out of 204 countries with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Canada 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.