Merchandise trade in Uruguay
Uruguay: Merchandise trade was 28.3% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in Uruguay, 1960–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Uruguay recorded 28.3% for merchandise trade in 2025.
That represents a change of up 2.4% on the previous year and down 4.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Uruguay peaked at 48.2% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 15.3%, in 1973.
Uruguay ranks 178th of 204 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in Uruguay, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 27.9% | — |
| 1961 | 24.9% | -10.7% |
| 1962 | 22.4% | -10.2% |
| 1963 | 22.2% | -0.8% |
| 1964 | 19.1% | -14.1% |
| 1965 | 18.1% | -5.2% |
| 1966 | 19.3% | +7.0% |
| 1967 | 20.7% | +6.8% |
| 1968 | 21.1% | +2.1% |
| 1969 | 19.8% | -6.1% |
| 1970 | 21.7% | +9.6% |
| 1971 | 15.5% | -28.6% |
| 1972 | 19.5% | +25.6% |
| 1973 | 15.3% | -21.3% |
| 1974 | 21.2% | +38.8% |
| 1975 | 26.6% | +25.0% |
| 1976 | 30.9% | +16.3% |
| 1977 | 32.5% | +5.2% |
| 1978 | 29.4% | -9.6% |
| 1979 | 27.8% | -5.5% |
| 1980 | 27.0% | -2.9% |
| 1981 | 25.9% | -4.1% |
| 1982 | 23.2% | -10.1% |
| 1983 | 35.9% | +54.6% |
| 1984 | 35.3% | -1.8% |
| 1985 | 34.2% | -3.1% |
| 1986 | 33.3% | -2.6% |
| 1987 | 31.6% | -5.0% |
| 1988 | 31.2% | -1.4% |
| 1989 | 33.2% | +6.4% |
| 1990 | 32.6% | -1.6% |
| 1991 | 28.9% | -11.4% |
| 1992 | 29.1% | +0.6% |
| 1993 | 26.5% | -9.1% |
| 1994 | 26.9% | +1.6% |
| 1995 | 25.8% | -4.2% |
| 1996 | 27.9% | +8.2% |
| 1997 | 26.9% | -3.4% |
| 1998 | 25.9% | -3.7% |
| 1999 | 23.3% | -10.0% |
| 2000 | 25.2% | +8.2% |
| 2001 | 24.5% | -2.9% |
| 2002 | 28.1% | +14.7% |
| 2003 | 36.5% | +29.8% |
| 2004 | 44.2% | +21.0% |
| 2005 | 42.0% | -4.8% |
| 2006 | 44.6% | +5.9% |
| 2007 | 42.6% | -4.3% |
| 2008 | 48.2% | +13.1% |
| 2009 | 37.6% | -22.0% |
| 2010 | 36.6% | -2.8% |
| 2011 | 37.0% | +1.2% |
| 2012 | 37.5% | +1.4% |
| 2013 | 33.8% | -10.1% |
| 2014 | 33.5% | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 29.8% | -11.2% |
| 2016 | 26.4% | -11.3% |
| 2017 | 25.1% | -4.8% |
| 2018 | 25.1% | -0.2% |
| 2019 | 25.6% | +2.0% |
| 2020 | 26.9% | +5.2% |
| 2021 | 32.7% | +21.3% |
| 2022 | 33.9% | +3.7% |
| 2023 | 27.4% | -19.2% |
| 2024 | 27.7% | +1.0% |
| 2025 | 28.3% | +2.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 21.6% | 18.1% | 27.9% | 10 |
| 1970s | 24.0% | 15.3% | 32.5% | 10 |
| 1980s | 31.1% | 23.2% | 35.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 27.4% | 23.3% | 32.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 37.4% | 24.5% | 48.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 31.0% | 25.1% | 37.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.5% | 26.9% | 33.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Uruguay
More private sector data for Uruguay
- Food imports 14.1% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 69.6% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 12.95 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 65.3% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 18.9% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 11.23 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 3,318 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1316 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 9.53 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 3,826 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Uruguay?
- Merchandise trade in Uruguay was 28.3% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Uruguay?
- The highest recorded value was 48.2% in 2008.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Uruguay?
- The lowest recorded value was 15.3% in 1973.
- How does Uruguay rank for merchandise trade?
- Uruguay ranks 178th out of 204 countries with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Uruguay?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Uruguay 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.