Countries by Exports as a capacity to import (constant LCU)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

Exports as a capacity to import measures the purchasing power of a country's export earnings in terms of what they can buy on global import markets. Per the World Bank source note: 'Exports as a capacity to import equals the current price value of exports of goods and services deflated by the import price index. This indicator is expressed in constant prices, meaning the series has been adjusted to account for price changes over time. The reference year for this adjustment varies by country. This series is expressed in local currency units.' Because values are expressed in each country's own local currency unit, the figures are not directly comparable across countries. This ranking covers 172 countries, with 169 of 172 (98.3%) having data from the last seven years. All 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. The data year is 2024, with 147 of 172 countries (85.5%) reporting in the latest year. Seventeen extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold.

The top of the ranking is dominated by countries with high-denomination currencies or large export volumes. Iran ranks 1st at 13,716,486,258,226,900 LCU, far ahead of Viet Nam in 2nd at 6,709,315,884,536,690 LCU and Indonesia in 3rd at 2,797,599,257,960,030 LCU. Korea, Rep. follows in 4th at 849,420,935,543,232 LCU. Colombia ranks 5th at 183,815,631,183,946 LCU. These high values reflect a combination of currency scale and the volume of goods and services exported, adjusted for import price changes using each country's own reference year.

Several counterintuitive placements appear mid-ranking. Japan ranks 8th at 93,064,387,643,348 LCU, behind Somalia, Fed. Rep. (rank 7, 96,205,951,994,705 LCU), which is a notable anomaly given Somalia's widely understood economic constraints. The United States ranks 44th at 2,813,679,665,249 LCU, lower than countries such as Hungary (rank 14, 49,186,901,720,841 LCU) and Guinea (rank 12, 49,612,089,695,784 LCU). Germany ranks 57th at 1,480,292,751,152 LCU. These placements are driven by the use of local currency units and varying deflator reference years, not by absolute trade size. At the bottom, Kiribati (rank 172, 21,344,093 LCU), Palau (rank 171, 58,258,632 LCU), and Marshall Islands (rank 170, 103,226,456 LCU) record the smallest values.

This metric has significant limitations for cross-country comparison. Because values are denominated in each country's local currency unit, a country with a high-denomination currency will record a numerically larger value regardless of its actual trade capacity relative to other nations. The reference year for constant price adjustment also varies by country, making direct comparisons unreliable. The metric does not capture trade balance, net import capacity, or purchasing power parity adjustments. Reporting gaps exist: 25 of 172 countries do not have data from the latest year (2024). Seventeen extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold suggest that currency scale differences heavily influence the distribution.

Methodology

This ranking uses World Bank World Development Indicators indicator code NY.EXP.CAPM.KN for data year 2024. Per the source note: 'Exports as a capacity to import equals the current price value of exports of goods and services deflated by the import price index. This indicator is expressed in constant prices, meaning the series has been adjusted to account for price changes over time. The reference year for this adjustment varies by country. This series is expressed in local currency units.' The unit is the absolute value in constant local currency units (LCU). Higher values indicate greater export purchasing power relative to import prices in each country's own currency. The dataset covers 172 countries, above the 80-country coverage threshold. Data recency is high: 169 of 172 countries (98.3%) have data from the last seven years, and 147 of 172 (85.5%) report in the latest year (2024). Data quality is strong, with 100% of datapoints classified as official. Seventeen extreme outliers were flagged at the 3-sigma threshold, largely attributable to currency denomination differences. Average year-over-year change across countries is 15.1%, within the 50% volatility threshold. Because values are in local currency units with varying reference years, figures are not directly comparable across countries.

Sources

• World Bank