Countries by Goods imports (BoP, current US$)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

This metric measures the value of goods imports as recorded in the Balance of Payments (BoP), expressed in current US dollars with no adjustment for price changes over time. Per the source definition: imports of goods occur when there are changes in the economic ownership of goods from non-residents to residents of the compiling economy, 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 96.4% of countries having data from the last seven years, 100% of datapoints rated as official quality, and 79.2% of entries from the latest available year (2024). Twenty-seven extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold, reflecting the wide dispersion in the data: values range from $24.2 million (Tuvalu, rank 192) to $3.30 trillion (United States, rank 1), a spread of over 13.5 million percent.

The top of the ranking is concentrated among the world's largest economies. The United States (rank 1) leads at $3.30 trillion, with China (rank 2) at $2.64 trillion. Germany (rank 3) at $1.21 trillion is the top-ranked European economy, more than double the next European entry, the United Kingdom (rank 4) at $763.2 billion. France (rank 5, $733.3 billion), India (rank 6, $726.9 billion), and Japan (rank 7, $718.7 billion) are closely grouped. Mexico (rank 8, $636.9 billion), Hong Kong SAR (rank 9, $633.1 billion), and the Netherlands (rank 10, $605.5 billion) round out the top ten. High rankings generally correspond to large domestic markets, manufacturing activity requiring imported inputs, or roles as major re-export hubs.

The middle of the ranking shows notable regional diversity. Poland (rank 19, $367.2 billion) and Viet Nam (rank 20, $362.5 billion) rank higher than several larger economies by population. Singapore (rank 15, $434.9 billion) and Hong Kong SAR (rank 9, $633.1 billion) both rank above much larger economies, consistent with their roles as trading entrepots. In the lower ranks, countries such as Kenya (rank 79, $22.2 billion), Bolivia (rank 112, $9.15 billion), and Malawi (rank 146, $3.02 billion) reflect smaller domestic economies with more limited import activity. Macao SAR, China (rank 86, $16.7 billion) appears between Lebanon (rank 87, $16.7 billion) and Venezuela (rank 88, $16.3 billion), illustrating how territory size and economic structure shape placement independently of geographic region.

Several data limitations apply to this metric. Because values are expressed in current US dollars with no price adjustment, changes in exchange rates and global commodity prices can shift a country's ranking from year to year without any real change in import volumes. The BoP framework records changes in economic ownership rather than physical border crossings, which means some flows may be recorded differently across national statistical systems. Coverage is strong at 192 countries, but only 79.2% of entries come from the 2024 reference year; the remainder use earlier data, introducing some inconsistency in cross-country comparisons. Countries with less developed statistical infrastructure may have larger margins of error in their reported figures. The 27 extreme outliers identified in the dataset reflect the scale of dispersion and should be interpreted with caution when comparing very large and very small economies.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code BM.GSR.MRCH.CD, for the reference year 2024. The metric measures goods imports as defined in the Balance of Payments framework: imports of goods occur when there are changes in the economic ownership of goods from non-residents to residents of the compiling economy, 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, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. Of these, 185 countries (96.4%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Data for 152 of 192 countries (79.2%) are from the 2024 reference year; remaining entries use the most recent available year. Twenty-seven extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 13.4%, well below the 50% volatility threshold. Values range from $24.2 million (Tuvalu) to $3.30 trillion (United States), a spread of approximately 13,593,267%. No microstate exclusions were applied.

Sources

• World Bank