Merchandise trade in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries): Merchandise trade was 44.2% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries), 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for merchandise trade in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) is 44.2%, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.7% on the previous year and up 16.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) peaked at 50.1% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 18.0%, in 1971.
Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 25th 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 & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries), year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 22.7% | — |
| 1961 | 21.2% | -6.6% |
| 1962 | 21.0% | -0.7% |
| 1963 | 19.7% | -6.3% |
| 1964 | 19.1% | -3.2% |
| 1965 | 18.7% | -2.1% |
| 1966 | 18.2% | -2.2% |
| 1967 | 18.7% | +2.4% |
| 1968 | 18.5% | -1.0% |
| 1969 | 18.4% | -0.7% |
| 1970 | 19.0% | +3.4% |
| 1971 | 18.0% | -5.1% |
| 1972 | 18.1% | +0.6% |
| 1973 | 18.4% | +1.5% |
| 1974 | 23.3% | +26.6% |
| 1975 | 22.2% | -4.8% |
| 1976 | 21.9% | -1.4% |
| 1977 | 22.8% | +4.2% |
| 1978 | 21.2% | -7.1% |
| 1979 | 24.3% | +14.7% |
| 1980 | 26.8% | +10.5% |
| 1981 | 25.4% | -5.4% |
| 1982 | 23.4% | -7.8% |
| 1983 | 23.7% | +1.3% |
| 1984 | 24.6% | +3.8% |
| 1985 | 24.2% | -1.7% |
| 1986 | 22.1% | -8.8% |
| 1987 | 23.4% | +5.9% |
| 1988 | 24.8% | +6.2% |
| 1989 | 24.6% | -0.6% |
| 1990 | 24.6% | -0.2% |
| 1991 | 24.4% | -1.0% |
| 1992 | 25.3% | +4.0% |
| 1993 | 23.2% | -8.5% |
| 1994 | 23.3% | +0.4% |
| 1995 | 25.1% | +7.9% |
| 1996 | 25.9% | +3.1% |
| 1997 | 27.3% | +5.3% |
| 1998 | 27.6% | +1.3% |
| 1999 | 31.1% | +12.8% |
| 2000 | 33.3% | +6.8% |
| 2001 | 33.0% | -0.8% |
| 2002 | 36.1% | +9.5% |
| 2003 | 37.8% | +4.6% |
| 2004 | 40.1% | +6.2% |
| 2005 | 39.9% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 40.4% | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 39.5% | -2.3% |
| 2008 | 40.2% | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 32.9% | -18.1% |
| 2010 | 33.8% | +2.7% |
| 2011 | 36.5% | +7.9% |
| 2012 | 37.0% | +1.4% |
| 2013 | 37.2% | +0.5% |
| 2014 | 36.8% | -1.0% |
| 2015 | 38.0% | +3.2% |
| 2016 | 36.6% | -3.8% |
| 2017 | 36.3% | -0.6% |
| 2018 | 40.9% | +12.5% |
| 2019 | 40.5% | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 42.2% | +4.2% |
| 2021 | 48.0% | +13.7% |
| 2022 | 50.1% | +4.4% |
| 2023 | 42.9% | -14.3% |
| 2024 | 43.4% | +1.2% |
| 2025 | 44.2% | +1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 19.6% | 18.2% | 22.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 20.9% | 18.0% | 24.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 24.3% | 22.1% | 26.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 25.8% | 23.2% | 31.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 37.3% | 32.9% | 40.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 37.3% | 33.8% | 40.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 45.1% | 42.2% | 50.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
More private sector data for Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)
- Food imports 9.0% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 73.2% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 1.57 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 19.7% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 56.4% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 1.55 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 2,373 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2193 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.04 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 2,409 current US$ per person (2025)
All data for Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Merchandise trade in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) was 44.2% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The highest recorded value was 50.1% in 2022.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.0% in 1971.
- How does Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) rank for merchandise trade?
- Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 25th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 16.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 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.