Merchandise trade in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Merchandise trade was 24.2% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Ethiopia, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Ethiopia recorded 24.2% for merchandise trade in 2025.
That represents a change of up 50.6% on the previous year and down 23.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Ethiopia peaked at 40.9% in 2006 and was at its lowest, 4.8%, in 1991.
Ethiopia ranks 190th of 204 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 10.3% | — |
| 1961 | 10.2% | -1.3% |
| 1962 | 10.5% | +3.5% |
| 1963 | 11.0% | +4.6% |
| 1964 | 11.5% | +4.3% |
| 1965 | 12.3% | +7.2% |
| 1966 | 11.7% | -4.6% |
| 1967 | 9.9% | -15.6% |
| 1968 | 10.6% | +7.4% |
| 1969 | 9.9% | -7.1% |
| 1970 | 9.7% | -2.4% |
| 1971 | 9.7% | +0.9% |
| 1972 | 10.1% | +3.8% |
| 1973 | 11.1% | +10.0% |
| 1974 | 12.1% | +8.4% |
| 1975 | 12.1% | +0.2% |
| 1976 | 12.8% | +5.8% |
| 1977 | 12.1% | -5.2% |
| 1978 | 12.7% | +4.4% |
| 1979 | 15.0% | +18.2% |
| 1980 | 16.3% | +8.8% |
| 1981 | 14.9% | -8.4% |
| 1982 | 15.0% | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 14.6% | -3.0% |
| 1984 | 16.4% | +12.5% |
| 1985 | 13.6% | -16.7% |
| 1986 | 15.4% | +13.0% |
| 1987 | 13.2% | -14.6% |
| 1988 | 13.9% | +5.8% |
| 1989 | 12.0% | -14.1% |
| 1990 | 11.1% | -7.7% |
| 1991 | 4.8% | -56.7% |
| 1992 | 9.4% | +95.7% |
| 1993 | 10.9% | +16.2% |
| 1994 | 19.8% | +81.6% |
| 1995 | 19.9% | +0.8% |
| 1996 | 20.8% | +4.0% |
| 1997 | 19.3% | -6.9% |
| 1998 | 25.9% | +34.3% |
| 1999 | 25.4% | -2.0% |
| 2000 | 21.2% | -16.6% |
| 2001 | 27.5% | +30.0% |
| 2002 | 26.4% | -4.0% |
| 2003 | 36.9% | +39.7% |
| 2004 | 35.1% | -5.0% |
| 2005 | 40.3% | +15.0% |
| 2006 | 40.9% | +1.5% |
| 2007 | 36.0% | -12.1% |
| 2008 | 36.5% | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 28.6% | -21.6% |
| 2010 | 36.5% | +27.6% |
| 2011 | 36.8% | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 35.3% | -4.2% |
| 2013 | 31.6% | -10.5% |
| 2014 | 33.5% | +6.1% |
| 2015 | 31.6% | -5.7% |
| 2016 | 28.1% | -11.1% |
| 2017 | 24.6% | -12.4% |
| 2018 | 21.6% | -12.1% |
| 2019 | 18.8% | -12.8% |
| 2020 | 16.6% | -11.9% |
| 2021 | 18.3% | +10.1% |
| 2022 | 18.4% | +0.6% |
| 2023 | 15.2% | -17.0% |
| 2024 | 16.1% | +5.4% |
| 2025 | 24.2% | +50.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 10.8% | 9.9% | 12.3% | 10 |
| 1970s | 11.7% | 9.7% | 15.0% | 10 |
| 1980s | 14.5% | 12.0% | 16.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 16.7% | 4.8% | 25.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 32.9% | 21.2% | 40.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 29.8% | 18.8% | 36.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.1% | 15.2% | 24.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More private sector data for Ethiopia
- Food imports 13.8% (2023)
- Manufactures imports 69.2% (2023)
- Merchandise imports 23.01 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 80.4% (2023)
- Manufactures exports 9.2% (2023)
- Merchandise exports 7.58 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 55.99 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.06 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 38.61 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 169.87 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Ethiopia?
- Merchandise trade in Ethiopia was 24.2% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 40.9% in 2006.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.8% in 1991.
- How does Ethiopia rank for merchandise trade?
- Ethiopia ranks 190th out of 204 countries with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ethiopia 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.