Merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income): Merchandise trade was 43.4% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income), 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) recorded 43.4% for merchandise trade in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.0% on the previous year and up 19.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) peaked at 48.9% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 16.6%, in 1966.
That places Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) 28th out of 47 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 21.2% | — |
| 1961 | 19.6% | -7.4% |
| 1962 | 19.8% | +0.6% |
| 1963 | 18.3% | -7.2% |
| 1964 | 17.6% | -3.8% |
| 1965 | 17.2% | -2.4% |
| 1966 | 16.6% | -3.2% |
| 1967 | 17.2% | +3.2% |
| 1968 | 17.0% | -1.0% |
| 1969 | 16.8% | -1.2% |
| 1970 | 18.3% | +8.8% |
| 1971 | 17.4% | -4.8% |
| 1972 | 17.4% | +0.3% |
| 1973 | 18.3% | +4.7% |
| 1974 | 22.3% | +22.2% |
| 1975 | 21.7% | -2.7% |
| 1976 | 21.1% | -2.9% |
| 1977 | 22.3% | +5.9% |
| 1978 | 20.6% | -7.9% |
| 1979 | 23.4% | +14.0% |
| 1980 | 26.2% | +11.8% |
| 1981 | 24.9% | -4.9% |
| 1982 | 23.0% | -7.7% |
| 1983 | 23.7% | +3.2% |
| 1984 | 24.7% | +4.3% |
| 1985 | 24.4% | -1.6% |
| 1986 | 22.3% | -8.3% |
| 1987 | 23.1% | +3.4% |
| 1988 | 24.4% | +5.5% |
| 1989 | 23.9% | -1.9% |
| 1990 | 23.5% | -1.9% |
| 1991 | 23.0% | -1.8% |
| 1992 | 23.9% | +3.9% |
| 1993 | 21.7% | -9.1% |
| 1994 | 21.9% | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 23.6% | +7.7% |
| 1996 | 24.4% | +3.4% |
| 1997 | 25.9% | +5.9% |
| 1998 | 26.2% | +1.4% |
| 1999 | 29.8% | +13.7% |
| 2000 | 32.0% | +7.1% |
| 2001 | 31.7% | -0.8% |
| 2002 | 34.7% | +9.4% |
| 2003 | 36.1% | +4.2% |
| 2004 | 38.3% | +6.1% |
| 2005 | 37.5% | -2.2% |
| 2006 | 37.9% | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 36.9% | -2.5% |
| 2008 | 37.7% | +2.0% |
| 2009 | 30.7% | -18.4% |
| 2010 | 31.7% | +3.3% |
| 2011 | 34.3% | +8.1% |
| 2012 | 34.8% | +1.6% |
| 2013 | 35.1% | +0.9% |
| 2014 | 34.9% | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 36.4% | +4.4% |
| 2016 | 35.1% | -3.7% |
| 2017 | 34.9% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 39.5% | +13.2% |
| 2019 | 39.2% | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 40.7% | +3.9% |
| 2021 | 47.1% | +15.7% |
| 2022 | 48.9% | +3.8% |
| 2023 | 41.9% | -14.3% |
| 2024 | 42.5% | +1.5% |
| 2025 | 43.4% | +2.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 18.1% | 16.6% | 21.2% | 10 |
| 1970s | 20.3% | 17.4% | 23.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 24.1% | 22.3% | 26.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 24.4% | 21.7% | 29.8% | 10 |
| 2000s | 35.3% | 30.7% | 38.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 35.6% | 31.7% | 39.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 44.1% | 40.7% | 48.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
More private sector data for Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
- Food imports 8.3% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 74.3% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 1.40 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 19.4% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 61.3% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 1.37 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 2,178 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2093 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.06 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 2,233 current US$ per person (2025)
All data for Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- Merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) was 43.4% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 48.9% in 2022.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.6% in 1966.
- How does Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) rank for merchandise trade?
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) ranks 28th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 19.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) 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.