Merchandise trade (% of GDP)

Definition

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.

Methodology for Trade & Finance indicators

Trade and finance indicators are sourced from customs declarations, balance-of-payments statistics, and central bank reporting. Exports and imports are usually reported FOB (free on board) for exports and CIF (cost, insurance, freight) for imports, which means global exports and global imports rarely sum to zero. Foreign direct investment data can be volatile year-over-year because of one-off cross-border acquisitions.

How to interpret

• Always check the unit and reporting year before comparing values across countries.
• NULL or "Not available" means the World Bank did not publish a value — we never estimate.
• Year-over-year changes can be driven by methodology updates, not just real economic shifts.