Countries by Export value index (2015 = 100)
Djibouti ranks first with an export value index of 3657.9, meaning its merchandise export values in 2023 were roughly 37 times the 2015 baseline. At the opposite end, North Korea records a value of 6.5, indicating exports have collapsed to a fraction of their 2015 level. The 56,000-percentage-point spread across 204 countries reflects the wide divergence in export trajectories since the base period.
Ranking 2023
Analysis
This metric tracks how merchandise export values have changed relative to a fixed baseline. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator TX.VAL.MRCH.XD.WD), export values are the current value of exports (f.o.b.) converted to U.S. dollars and expressed as a percentage of the average for the base period (2015). A value of 100 means exports are unchanged from 2015 in dollar terms; values above 100 indicate growth, and values below 100 indicate contraction. The metric covers merchandise trade only and does not capture services exports. Data cover 204 countries for the reference year 2023, with 99.0% of entries drawn from the latest year and 100% classified as official data, meeting all quality thresholds.
The top of the ranking is dominated by smaller and commodity-driven economies that started from a low 2015 base. Djibouti leads at 3657.9, followed by Timor-Leste at 1644.1 and Guyana at 1148.8. These three are extreme outliers, each exceeding the three-standard-deviation threshold flagged in the data quality review. Further down, Armenia (rank 4, 567.6), Guinea (rank 5, 530.5), and Nauru (rank 6, 403.2) also post very large gains. Rwanda (rank 8, 378.0), Mongolia (rank 9, 325.5), and Tajikistan (rank 11, 284.2) round out the upper tier. Among larger economies, Vietnam (rank 28, 218.3) and Cambodia (rank 14, 274.6) stand out as countries with sustained export growth well above the global median.
The middle of the ranking clusters around values of 130 to 170. Major economies including the United States (rank 132, 134.5), Germany (rank 138, 129.6), China (rank 107, 148.6), and France (rank 140, 128.1) all sit well below the global leaders, reflecting a more stable export base that was already large in 2015. Counterintuitively, Ireland (rank 71, 169.4) outperforms much larger peers, while Japan (rank 158, 114.8) and the United Kingdom (rank 164, 111.8) sit near the bottom third. Countries below 100, meaning exports have actually contracted in dollar terms since 2015, include Venezuela (rank 203, 20.9), Palau (rank 202, 29.2), Aruba (rank 201, 41.8), and several small island economies. Ukraine (rank 176, 94.5) and Equatorial Guinea (rank 179, 92.7) also record values below the 2015 baseline.
Several limitations apply to this metric. Because the index is anchored to 2015 dollar values, countries with very low export bases in that year mechanically achieve extreme index values even with modest absolute gains, which explains much of the outlier behavior at the top. Currency movements affect the U.S.-dollar conversion and can inflate or deflate rankings independently of real trade volumes. The index covers merchandise exports only, excluding services, which are a major component of trade for economies such as Luxembourg (rank 171, 100.1) and Singapore (rank 130, 135.5). Reporting reliability varies across countries, and some values, such as Sudan (rank 131, 135.03) and Curacao (rank 192, 64.80), appear with extended decimal precision that may indicate estimation rather than direct reporting. The 15 extreme outliers identified in the viability check should be interpreted with particular caution.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code TX.VAL.MRCH.XD.WD, for the reference year 2023. The definition applied is as stated in the source: export values are the current value of exports (f.o.b.) converted to U.S. dollars and expressed as a percentage of the average for the base period (2015); UNCTAD's export value indexes are reported for most economies. The unit is an absolute index value with 2015 equal to 100. Rankings cover 204 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. Data recency is 100%, with 202 of 204 entries from 2023 itself. All datapoints are classified as official quality. The viability review identified 15 extreme outliers using a three-standard-deviation threshold, with values ranging from 6.5 to 3657.9 — a spread of 56,175%. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 18.8%, within the 50% volatility threshold. The metric excludes services trade and does not adjust for price-level changes, so it reflects nominal dollar export values rather than real trade volumes.