Countries by Goods exports (BoP, current US$)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

This metric measures the value of goods exports as recorded in the Balance of Payments (BoP), expressed in current US dollars. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code BX.GSR.MRCH.CD), exports of goods occur when there are changes in the economic ownership of goods from residents of the compiling economy to non-residents, irrespective of physical movement of goods across national borders. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars. The dataset covers 192 countries, with 185 of 192 countries (96.4%) having data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints classified as official-quality. Thirty extreme outliers were identified using a three-sigma threshold, reflecting the high concentration of export value at the top of the distribution.

The top of the ranking is heavily concentrated among large, trade-oriented economies. China (rank 1, $3.41 trillion) is the clear leader, followed by the United States (rank 2, $2.08 trillion) and Germany (rank 3, $1.47 trillion). Korea (rank 4, $696.2 billion), Japan (rank 5, $694.5 billion), and the Netherlands (rank 6, $693.1 billion) are clustered closely together. Hong Kong SAR (rank 8, $631.1 billion) and Singapore (rank 11, $583.0 billion) rank notably high relative to their geographic size, reflecting their roles as major trade entrepots. Mexico (rank 10, $618.3 billion) and India (rank 16, $447.1 billion) represent large emerging economies with substantial export bases.

In the middle of the ranking, Viet Nam (rank 19, $405.5 billion) places ahead of several larger economies by population. Ireland (rank 22, $356.3 billion) ranks above Australia (rank 23, $341.1 billion) and Brazil (rank 24, $339.9 billion), which each have far larger populations and land areas. Armenia (rank 90, $13.2 billion) and Guyana (rank 91, $13.2 billion) are separated by less than $7 million. At the lower end, Yemen (rank 163, $472.8 million), Palau (rank 191, $1.745 million), and Tuvalu (rank 192, $183,598) record the smallest goods export values in the dataset. The 79.2% consistency rate for 2024 data means roughly one in five countries relies on estimates or data from prior years.

Because this metric uses current US dollar values without inflation adjustment, year-on-year comparisons can reflect currency movements and commodity price swings rather than changes in trade volumes. The average year-on-year change across the dataset is 19.2%, indicating meaningful volatility. Entrepot economies such as Hong Kong SAR and Singapore may record high gross export values that include substantial re-exports of goods produced elsewhere, which can inflate their apparent rankings relative to economies with predominantly domestically produced exports. Countries with large commodity export sectors are particularly sensitive to global price fluctuations. Data completeness for 2024 stands at 79.2%, so a notable share of 2024 figures may be estimates or interpolations.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code BX.GSR.MRCH.CD, for the reference year 2024. The metric is defined as follows: exports of goods occur when there are changes in the economic ownership of goods from residents of the compiling economy to non-residents, irrespective of physical movement of goods across national borders. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars. The ranking covers 192 countries. Of these, 185 (96.4%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Thirty extreme outliers were flagged using a three-sigma threshold. The average year-on-year change is 19.2%, below the 50% volatility threshold for inclusion. Values range from $183,598 (Tuvalu, rank 192) to $3.41 trillion (China, rank 1), a spread of over 18 million percent. Figures are in absolute current US dollars; no purchasing power or inflation adjustment has been applied. 2024 data coverage stands at 79.2% (152 of 192 countries), meaning approximately 40 countries use estimated or prior-year values.

Sources

• World Bank