Merchandise trade in East Asia & Pacific
East Asia & Pacific: Merchandise trade was 50.6% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in East Asia & Pacific, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2025, merchandise trade in East Asia & Pacific stood at 50.6%.
The figure is up 3.3% on the previous year and up 7.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in East Asia & Pacific peaked at 60.1% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 18.9%, in 1967.
East Asia & Pacific ranks 10th of 47 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in East Asia & Pacific, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 19.6% | — |
| 1961 | 19.7% | +0.1% |
| 1962 | 19.3% | -1.8% |
| 1963 | 19.5% | +0.8% |
| 1964 | 19.1% | -2.1% |
| 1965 | 19.1% | +0.3% |
| 1966 | 18.9% | -1.1% |
| 1967 | 18.9% | -0.1% |
| 1968 | 19.2% | +1.6% |
| 1969 | 19.3% | +0.5% |
| 1970 | 19.7% | +2.2% |
| 1971 | 20.1% | +1.7% |
| 1972 | 19.3% | -3.5% |
| 1973 | 21.9% | +13.1% |
| 1974 | 28.5% | +30.4% |
| 1975 | 25.5% | -10.7% |
| 1976 | 27.1% | +6.3% |
| 1977 | 26.2% | -3.3% |
| 1978 | 24.8% | -5.2% |
| 1979 | 28.7% | +15.6% |
| 1980 | 33.9% | +18.3% |
| 1981 | 33.6% | -1.0% |
| 1982 | 32.9% | -2.2% |
| 1983 | 31.4% | -4.6% |
| 1984 | 33.0% | +5.1% |
| 1985 | 31.3% | -5.1% |
| 1986 | 25.8% | -17.6% |
| 1987 | 26.5% | +2.9% |
| 1988 | 27.3% | +2.8% |
| 1989 | 29.1% | +6.5% |
| 1990 | 30.5% | +4.8% |
| 1991 | 29.9% | -1.7% |
| 1992 | 30.0% | +0.3% |
| 1993 | 29.3% | -2.4% |
| 1994 | 30.4% | +3.7% |
| 1995 | 32.2% | +5.8% |
| 1996 | 34.3% | +6.6% |
| 1997 | 37.1% | +8.2% |
| 1998 | 36.8% | -1.0% |
| 1999 | 35.6% | -3.3% |
| 2000 | 39.7% | +11.6% |
| 2001 | 39.1% | -1.4% |
| 2002 | 41.3% | +5.5% |
| 2003 | 44.6% | +8.0% |
| 2004 | 49.6% | +11.3% |
| 2005 | 53.4% | +7.7% |
| 2006 | 58.3% | +9.2% |
| 2007 | 59.9% | +2.7% |
| 2008 | 60.1% | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 47.5% | -21.0% |
| 2010 | 53.3% | +12.3% |
| 2011 | 54.9% | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 53.0% | -3.4% |
| 2013 | 53.7% | +1.3% |
| 2014 | 52.5% | -2.3% |
| 2015 | 47.2% | -10.1% |
| 2016 | 43.7% | -7.3% |
| 2017 | 46.1% | +5.4% |
| 2018 | 46.6% | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 44.4% | -4.8% |
| 2020 | 43.0% | -3.1% |
| 2021 | 47.4% | +10.3% |
| 2022 | 51.7% | +8.9% |
| 2023 | 47.8% | -7.4% |
| 2024 | 49.0% | +2.5% |
| 2025 | 50.6% | +3.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 19.3% | 18.9% | 19.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 24.2% | 19.3% | 28.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 30.5% | 25.8% | 33.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 32.6% | 29.3% | 37.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 49.3% | 39.1% | 60.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 49.6% | 43.7% | 54.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 48.3% | 43.0% | 51.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near East Asia & Pacific
More private sector data for East Asia & Pacific
- Food imports 7.4% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 60.7% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 7.80 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 4.4% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 81.4% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 9.23 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 3,860 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2742 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 9.24 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 3,261 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in East Asia & Pacific?
- Merchandise trade in East Asia & Pacific was 50.6% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in East Asia & Pacific?
- The highest recorded value was 60.1% in 2008.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in East Asia & Pacific?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.9% in 1967.
- How does East Asia & Pacific rank for merchandise trade?
- East Asia & Pacific ranks 10th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in East Asia & Pacific?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this East Asia & Pacific 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.