Merchandise trade in Upper middle income
Upper middle income: Merchandise trade was 42.8% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Upper middle income, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for merchandise trade in Upper middle income is 42.8%, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of up 1.1% on the previous year and up 4.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Upper middle income peaked at 56.1% in 2006 and was at its lowest, 16.3%, in 1966.
Upper middle income ranks 29th of 45 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 Upper middle income, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 18.7% | — |
| 1961 | 18.2% | -2.4% |
| 1962 | 17.9% | -1.6% |
| 1963 | 17.9% | -0.4% |
| 1964 | 17.4% | -2.5% |
| 1965 | 16.7% | -4.0% |
| 1966 | 16.3% | -2.5% |
| 1967 | 16.8% | +2.9% |
| 1968 | 17.2% | +2.5% |
| 1969 | 16.7% | -2.9% |
| 1970 | 17.5% | +4.8% |
| 1971 | 17.7% | +1.3% |
| 1972 | 17.3% | -2.5% |
| 1973 | 19.3% | +11.7% |
| 1974 | 25.1% | +30.0% |
| 1975 | 24.7% | -1.7% |
| 1976 | 24.2% | -2.1% |
| 1977 | 24.4% | +1.0% |
| 1978 | 24.9% | +2.1% |
| 1979 | 27.9% | +11.8% |
| 1980 | 32.9% | +17.9% |
| 1981 | 31.4% | -4.6% |
| 1982 | 30.0% | -4.5% |
| 1983 | 29.8% | -0.5% |
| 1984 | 29.4% | -1.3% |
| 1985 | 27.7% | -5.8% |
| 1986 | 25.4% | -8.4% |
| 1987 | 28.3% | +11.4% |
| 1988 | 30.8% | +8.9% |
| 1989 | 31.9% | +3.5% |
| 1990 | 30.8% | -3.4% |
| 1991 | 33.5% | +8.8% |
| 1992 | 34.3% | +2.4% |
| 1993 | 34.2% | -0.3% |
| 1994 | 35.3% | +3.2% |
| 1995 | 36.7% | +4.0% |
| 1996 | 36.1% | -1.6% |
| 1997 | 37.1% | +2.9% |
| 1998 | 36.3% | -2.2% |
| 1999 | 39.4% | +8.5% |
| 2000 | 44.1% | +11.8% |
| 2001 | 43.3% | -1.9% |
| 2002 | 46.5% | +7.4% |
| 2003 | 50.1% | +7.8% |
| 2004 | 54.7% | +9.1% |
| 2005 | 55.2% | +1.0% |
| 2006 | 56.1% | +1.5% |
| 2007 | 54.5% | -2.7% |
| 2008 | 54.3% | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 43.6% | -19.7% |
| 2010 | 46.9% | +7.6% |
| 2011 | 47.9% | +2.2% |
| 2012 | 46.9% | -2.1% |
| 2013 | 45.8% | -2.5% |
| 2014 | 44.4% | -3.1% |
| 2015 | 40.8% | -8.0% |
| 2016 | 38.4% | -6.0% |
| 2017 | 39.6% | +3.1% |
| 2018 | 41.3% | +4.3% |
| 2019 | 39.8% | -3.5% |
| 2020 | 39.2% | -1.6% |
| 2021 | 42.8% | +9.2% |
| 2022 | 45.5% | +6.4% |
| 2023 | 42.0% | -7.8% |
| 2024 | 42.3% | +0.9% |
| 2025 | 42.8% | +1.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 17.4% | 16.3% | 18.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 22.3% | 17.3% | 27.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 29.8% | 25.4% | 32.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 35.4% | 30.8% | 39.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 50.2% | 43.3% | 56.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 43.2% | 38.4% | 47.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 42.4% | 39.2% | 45.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Upper middle income
More private sector data for Upper middle income
- Food imports 8.5% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 59.5% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 6.62 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 9.5% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 75.8% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 7.67 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 2,493 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2289 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.45 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 2,149 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Upper middle income?
- Merchandise trade in Upper middle income was 42.8% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Upper middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 56.1% in 2006.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Upper middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.3% in 1966.
- How does Upper middle income rank for merchandise trade?
- Upper middle income ranks 29th out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Upper 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 Upper 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.