Merchandise trade in United States
United States: Merchandise trade was 18.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in United States, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2025, merchandise trade in United States stood at 18.5%.
That represents a change of down 11.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in United States peaked at 24.0% in 2011 and was at its lowest, 6.4%, in 1962.
That places United States 199th out of 204 countries 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 United States, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 6.6% | — |
| 1961 | 6.4% | -3.2% |
| 1962 | 6.4% | -0.1% |
| 1963 | 6.4% | +0.4% |
| 1964 | 6.7% | +4.3% |
| 1965 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 7.0% | +4.5% |
| 1967 | 6.9% | -1.2% |
| 1968 | 7.4% | +6.3% |
| 1969 | 7.4% | +0.7% |
| 1970 | 8.0% | +7.3% |
| 1971 | 7.9% | -1.1% |
| 1972 | 8.4% | +7.1% |
| 1973 | 10.1% | +19.9% |
| 1974 | 13.6% | +34.1% |
| 1975 | 12.7% | -6.2% |
| 1976 | 13.3% | +4.4% |
| 1977 | 13.6% | +2.4% |
| 1978 | 14.1% | +3.6% |
| 1979 | 15.6% | +10.2% |
| 1980 | 16.9% | +8.6% |
| 1981 | 16.0% | -5.5% |
| 1982 | 14.1% | -11.7% |
| 1983 | 13.1% | -7.2% |
| 1984 | 14.1% | +8.0% |
| 1985 | 13.2% | -6.8% |
| 1986 | 13.3% | +1.1% |
| 1987 | 14.0% | +5.0% |
| 1988 | 14.9% | +6.8% |
| 1989 | 15.2% | +1.7% |
| 1990 | 15.3% | +0.6% |
| 1991 | 15.1% | -1.1% |
| 1992 | 15.4% | +1.8% |
| 1993 | 15.6% | +1.3% |
| 1994 | 16.5% | +5.9% |
| 1995 | 17.7% | +7.6% |
| 1996 | 17.9% | +1.0% |
| 1997 | 18.5% | +3.3% |
| 1998 | 17.9% | -3.1% |
| 1999 | 18.2% | +1.5% |
| 2000 | 19.9% | +9.3% |
| 2001 | 18.0% | -9.4% |
| 2002 | 17.3% | -3.9% |
| 2003 | 17.7% | +2.2% |
| 2004 | 19.2% | +8.2% |
| 2005 | 20.2% | +5.4% |
| 2006 | 21.3% | +5.5% |
| 2007 | 21.9% | +2.7% |
| 2008 | 23.4% | +6.9% |
| 2009 | 18.4% | -21.5% |
| 2010 | 21.6% | +17.4% |
| 2011 | 24.0% | +11.3% |
| 2012 | 23.9% | -0.6% |
| 2013 | 23.2% | -3.1% |
| 2014 | 22.9% | -1.1% |
| 2015 | 20.9% | -8.9% |
| 2016 | 19.7% | -5.7% |
| 2017 | 20.2% | +2.5% |
| 2018 | 20.7% | +2.7% |
| 2019 | 19.5% | -5.6% |
| 2020 | 17.9% | -8.3% |
| 2021 | 19.8% | +10.3% |
| 2022 | 20.9% | +5.6% |
| 2023 | 18.6% | -10.6% |
| 2024 | 18.5% | -0.8% |
| 2025 | 18.5% | -0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 6.8% | 6.4% | 7.4% | 10 |
| 1970s | 11.7% | 7.9% | 15.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 14.5% | 13.1% | 16.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 16.8% | 15.1% | 18.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 19.7% | 17.3% | 23.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 21.7% | 19.5% | 24.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.0% | 17.9% | 20.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More private sector data for United States
- Food imports 6.9% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 78.4% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 3.51 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 9.5% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 55.7% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 2.19 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 6,394 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.071 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 5.99 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 10,260 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in United States?
- Merchandise trade in United States was 18.5% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 24.0% in 2011.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.4% in 1962.
- How does United States rank for merchandise trade?
- United States ranks 199th out of 204 countries with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States 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.