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Merchandise trade to GDP ratio (%) by country

Merchandise trade as a share of GDP is the sum of merchandise exports and imports divided by the value of GDP, all in current US dollars and from the national accounts.

Countries reporting
53
Highest
159.0%
Lesotho
Lowest
25.0%
Eritrea
Median
76.0%
Years covered
52
1960–2011
Data points
2,599

What the numbers show

Merchandise trade to GDP ratio (%) is currently reported for 53 countries. The highest value is 159.0% in Lesotho; the lowest is 25.0% in Eritrea.

The median across all reporting countries is 76.0%, and the mean is 82.6%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 6.

Over the past decade 37 countries rose and 16 fell. The largest increase was in Congo, Democratic Republic of the (up 278.2%), and the largest decrease in Eritrea (down 74.1%).

Merchandise trade to GDP ratio: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Lesotho 159.0% 2011 down 16.5% rising
2 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 146.3% 2011 up 278.2% volatile
3 Seychelles 144.7% 2011 up 29.8% rising
4 Zimbabwe 137.3% 2011 up 102.1% rising
5 Eswatini 137.1% 2011 down 25.5% rising
6 Djibouti 134.2% 2007 up 50.6% falling
7 Mauritania 124.8% 2011 up 64.1% rising
8 Congo 122.1% 2011 down 6.6% rising
9 Liberia 120.8% 2011 up 108.2% falling
10 Mauritius 120.5% 2011 down 8.0% rising
11 Equatorial Guinea 118.8% 2011 down 38.6% rising
12 Cape Verde 114.8% 2011 up 24.6% rising
13 Angola 108.3% 2011 down 28.0% rising
14 Tunisia 104.7% 2011 up 16.9% rising
15 Gabon 100.3% 2011 up 9.0% rising
16 Togo 99.4% 2011 up 20.7% rising
17 Namibia 97.2% 2011 up 9.3% falling
18 Libya 94.8% 2008 up 135.6% rising
19 Ghana 89.2% 2011 down 19.0% volatile
20 Côte d'Ivoire 84.3% 2011 up 11.9% rising
21 Botswana 83.5% 2011 up 4.8% flat
22 Zambia 83.1% 2011 up 14.6% falling
23 Morocco 82.6% 2011 up 34.6% rising
24 Tanzania, United Republic of 81.3% 2011 up 112.3% rising
25 Guinea-Bissau 81.0% 2002 up 47.3% rising
26 Guinea 78.5% 2011 up 33.9% rising
27 Gambia 76.0% 2011 up 62.0% falling
28 Nigeria 75.2% 2011 down 0.1% rising
29 Kenya 75.1% 2011 up 34.3% flat
30 Mozambique 74.5% 2011 up 20.4% rising
31 Sierra Leone 71.0% 2011 up 98.5% falling
32 Malawi 69.1% 2011 up 2.9% rising
33 Sao Tome and Principe 68.8% 2011 down 6.6% flat
34 Senegal 68.7% 2011 up 3.4% rising
35 Comoros 67.1% 2011 up 44.9% falling
36 Chad 66.2% 2011 up 2.9% rising
37 Cameroon 65.6% 2011 up 15.5% rising
38 Madagascar 63.2% 2011 up 2.9% rising
39 Mali 60.8% 2011 down 27.2% rising
40 South Africa 58.3% 2011 up 3.6% rising
41 Uganda 58.2% 2011 up 64.7% flat
42 Egypt 53.5% 2011 up 34.3% rising
43 Algeria 52.3% 2010 down 16.3% falling
44 Burkina Faso 49.7% 2011 up 53.6% rising
45 Ethiopia 48.7% 2011 up 36.2% rising
46 Somalia 47.5% 1990 down 60.9% rising
47 Rwanda 45.9% 2011 up 40.2% rising
48 Benin 41.9% 2011 down 21.2% rising
49 Burundi 39.3% 2011 up 75.7% rising
50 Niger 39.3% 2005 down 5.3% rising
51 Central African Republic 35.1% 2011 down 9.9% falling
52 Sudan 34.8% 2011 up 43.9% rising
53 Eritrea 25.0% 2009 down 74.1% falling

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

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Merchandise trade to GDP ratio by country. Statizoid, drawing on World Bank country economists. Retrieved 26 August 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/merchandise-trade-to-gdp-ratio-percent/

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About this data

Indicator
Merchandise trade to GDP ratio (%)
Unit
%
Source
World Bank country economists
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
59 places, 2,599 data points, 1960–2011
Last refreshed

Merchandise trade as a share of GDP is the sum of merchandise exports and imports divided by the value of GDP, all in current US dollars and from the national accounts.