Merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean
Latin America & Caribbean: Merchandise trade was 44.2% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Latin America & Caribbean recorded 44.2% for merchandise trade in 2025.
That represents a change of up 1.8% on the previous year and up 17.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean peaked at 50.0% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 18.3%, in 1966.
Latin America & Caribbean ranks 24th of 47 groups 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 Latin America & Caribbean, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 22.7% | — |
| 1961 | 21.2% | -6.5% |
| 1962 | 21.1% | -0.8% |
| 1963 | 19.7% | -6.3% |
| 1964 | 19.1% | -3.1% |
| 1965 | 18.7% | -2.1% |
| 1966 | 18.3% | -2.1% |
| 1967 | 18.8% | +2.5% |
| 1968 | 18.6% | -0.9% |
| 1969 | 18.5% | -0.3% |
| 1970 | 19.9% | +7.6% |
| 1971 | 18.9% | -5.2% |
| 1972 | 18.8% | -0.7% |
| 1973 | 19.3% | +2.7% |
| 1974 | 24.9% | +29.0% |
| 1975 | 24.7% | -0.7% |
| 1976 | 24.4% | -1.4% |
| 1977 | 25.4% | +4.2% |
| 1978 | 23.2% | -8.5% |
| 1979 | 26.2% | +12.9% |
| 1980 | 29.3% | +11.8% |
| 1981 | 27.7% | -5.6% |
| 1982 | 25.7% | -7.2% |
| 1983 | 26.1% | +1.5% |
| 1984 | 26.7% | +2.5% |
| 1985 | 26.1% | -2.4% |
| 1986 | 24.2% | -7.2% |
| 1987 | 24.9% | +3.1% |
| 1988 | 26.0% | +4.2% |
| 1989 | 25.8% | -0.6% |
| 1990 | 25.0% | -3.4% |
| 1991 | 24.5% | -1.6% |
| 1992 | 25.3% | +3.3% |
| 1993 | 23.2% | -8.6% |
| 1994 | 23.3% | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 25.1% | +8.0% |
| 1996 | 26.0% | +3.7% |
| 1997 | 27.4% | +5.1% |
| 1998 | 27.6% | +1.0% |
| 1999 | 31.1% | +12.6% |
| 2000 | 33.3% | +6.9% |
| 2001 | 33.0% | -0.9% |
| 2002 | 35.9% | +8.8% |
| 2003 | 37.6% | +4.7% |
| 2004 | 40.0% | +6.5% |
| 2005 | 39.9% | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 40.5% | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 39.6% | -2.2% |
| 2008 | 40.3% | +2.0% |
| 2009 | 32.8% | -18.6% |
| 2010 | 33.7% | +2.7% |
| 2011 | 36.6% | +8.5% |
| 2012 | 36.9% | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 37.1% | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 36.7% | -1.1% |
| 2015 | 37.6% | +2.7% |
| 2016 | 36.1% | -4.0% |
| 2017 | 35.9% | -0.6% |
| 2018 | 40.4% | +12.3% |
| 2019 | 39.9% | -1.1% |
| 2020 | 41.3% | +3.6% |
| 2021 | 48.0% | +16.0% |
| 2022 | 50.0% | +4.4% |
| 2023 | 42.9% | -14.3% |
| 2024 | 43.4% | +1.2% |
| 2025 | 44.2% | +1.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 19.7% | 18.3% | 22.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 22.6% | 18.8% | 26.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 26.2% | 24.2% | 29.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 25.9% | 23.2% | 31.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 37.3% | 32.8% | 40.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 37.1% | 33.7% | 40.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 45.0% | 41.3% | 50.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean
More private sector data for Latin America & Caribbean
- Food imports 9.1% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 73.2% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 1.66 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 24.7% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 46.5% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 1.67 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 2,503 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2256 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.02 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 2,487 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Merchandise trade in Latin America & Caribbean was 44.2% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The highest recorded value was 50.0% in 2022.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.3% in 1966.
- How does Latin America & Caribbean rank for merchandise trade?
- Latin America & Caribbean ranks 24th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean 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.