Merchandise trade in Low & middle income
Low & middle income: Merchandise trade was 41.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Low & middle income, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2025, merchandise trade in Low & middle income stood at 41.5%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.0% on the previous year and up 4.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Low & middle income peaked at 52.8% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 17.5%, in 1969.
That places Low & middle income 34th out of 45 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in Low & middle income, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 20.0% | — |
| 1961 | 19.3% | -3.5% |
| 1962 | 18.9% | -2.0% |
| 1963 | 18.6% | -1.6% |
| 1964 | 18.5% | -0.4% |
| 1965 | 17.8% | -3.8% |
| 1966 | 18.3% | +2.8% |
| 1967 | 18.2% | -0.4% |
| 1968 | 18.0% | -1.3% |
| 1969 | 17.5% | -2.6% |
| 1970 | 18.0% | +2.8% |
| 1971 | 18.4% | +2.0% |
| 1972 | 18.1% | -1.6% |
| 1973 | 20.1% | +11.1% |
| 1974 | 26.2% | +30.3% |
| 1975 | 25.8% | -1.8% |
| 1976 | 25.8% | +0.2% |
| 1977 | 26.4% | +2.4% |
| 1978 | 26.5% | +0.1% |
| 1979 | 28.7% | +8.5% |
| 1980 | 33.3% | +15.8% |
| 1981 | 30.5% | -8.4% |
| 1982 | 28.5% | -6.5% |
| 1983 | 27.9% | -1.9% |
| 1984 | 28.3% | +1.4% |
| 1985 | 26.7% | -5.8% |
| 1986 | 24.4% | -8.7% |
| 1987 | 27.0% | +10.9% |
| 1988 | 29.4% | +8.7% |
| 1989 | 30.7% | +4.5% |
| 1990 | 29.5% | -3.8% |
| 1991 | 31.7% | +7.3% |
| 1992 | 33.1% | +4.4% |
| 1993 | 33.0% | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 33.8% | +2.5% |
| 1995 | 35.1% | +3.8% |
| 1996 | 34.5% | -1.7% |
| 1997 | 35.2% | +2.0% |
| 1998 | 33.9% | -3.5% |
| 1999 | 37.3% | +9.7% |
| 2000 | 41.2% | +10.5% |
| 2001 | 40.4% | -1.9% |
| 2002 | 42.9% | +6.1% |
| 2003 | 45.9% | +7.1% |
| 2004 | 50.4% | +9.7% |
| 2005 | 51.8% | +2.8% |
| 2006 | 52.6% | +1.7% |
| 2007 | 51.5% | -2.2% |
| 2008 | 52.8% | +2.6% |
| 2009 | 42.1% | -20.2% |
| 2010 | 45.1% | +7.1% |
| 2011 | 47.4% | +5.1% |
| 2012 | 46.4% | -2.2% |
| 2013 | 45.2% | -2.5% |
| 2014 | 43.6% | -3.6% |
| 2015 | 39.6% | -9.2% |
| 2016 | 37.0% | -6.7% |
| 2017 | 38.3% | +3.5% |
| 2018 | 40.2% | +5.1% |
| 2019 | 38.3% | -4.8% |
| 2020 | 37.0% | -3.4% |
| 2021 | 41.0% | +10.9% |
| 2022 | 44.0% | +7.2% |
| 2023 | 40.7% | -7.4% |
| 2024 | 41.1% | +0.9% |
| 2025 | 41.5% | +1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 18.5% | 17.5% | 20.0% | 10 |
| 1970s | 23.4% | 18.0% | 28.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 28.7% | 24.4% | 33.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 33.7% | 29.5% | 37.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 47.2% | 40.4% | 52.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 42.1% | 37.0% | 47.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 40.9% | 37.0% | 44.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Low & middle income
More private sector data for Low & middle income
- Food imports 8.8% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 58.0% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 8.33 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 10.2% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 72.6% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 8.84 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,301 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.213 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.48 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 1,227 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Low & middle income?
- Merchandise trade in Low & middle income was 41.5% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Low & middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 52.8% in 2008.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Low & middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.5% in 1969.
- How does Low & middle income rank for merchandise trade?
- Low & middle income ranks 34th out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Low & middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Low & middle 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.