Countries by Imports of goods and services (constant LCU)

Iran, Islamic Rep. ranks 1st with an imports of goods and services value of 16,604,739,398,341,900 in constant local currency units, a figure so large it exceeds second-ranked Viet Nam's 6,229,570,737,059,400 by more than 2.6 times. At the opposite end, Palau ranks 172nd with just 178,260,238 constant LCU. The gap between top and bottom spans more than 9.3 quadrillion percent, reflecting the fundamental incomparability of local currency units across different national economies.

Economy category

Ranking 2024

Countries by Imports of goods and services (constant LCU)
Rank	Country	Value
1	Iran	16,604,739,398,341,900
2	Vietnam	6,229,570,737,059,400
3	Indonesia	2,571,355,650,000,000
4	South Korea	771,407,800,000,000
5	Somalia	305,515,072,720,000
6	Colombia	238,927,000,000,000
7	Cambodia	103,823,991,782,100
8	Japan	96,616,079,664,000
9	Paraguay	91066581565262.5
10	Iraq	78,177,242,386,900
11	Guinea	67,580,698,217,850
12	Laos	62,222,001,831,000
13	Chile	59,017,030,445,200
14	Uzbekistan	57,325,857,562,200
15	Hungary	46,396,337,075,000
16	India	42,293,895,022,500
17	Mongolia	34,032,665,840,000
18	Tanzania	31,950,399,815,300
19	Uganda	29,825,077,590,000
20	Lebanon	19,677,430,000,000
21	Russia	19,605,708,000,000
22	Costa Rica	13,956,613,890,300
23	Madagascar	13,526,924,403,100
24	Côte d'Ivoire	13,035,999,899,000
25	Mexico	11,606,879,026,000
26	Pakistan	9944880292728.66
27	DR Congo	8,387,061,657,000
28	Philippines	8,328,319,852,400
29	Senegal	8,199,839,787,200
30	Thailand	7,608,353,000,000
31	Kazakhstan	7181424256481.55
32	Bangladesh	5,459,659,781,200
33	Hong Kong	5,440,742,000,000
34	Gabon	5415409083959.78
35	Armenia	5169126248549.77
36	Cameroon	4,985,700,000,000
37	Serbia	4,876,071,878,000
38	Rwanda	4,829,648,001,200
39	Czechia	4,254,866,000,000
40	Mali	4154293420527.98
41	Burkina Faso	3,969,194,095,900
42	United States	3,615,095,987,000
43	Sri Lanka	3163665145053.79
44	Benin	2,704,600,000,000
45	Kenya	2,650,440,000,000
46	Sweden	2,551,057,000,000
47	Angola	2497505628772.2
48	Algeria	2321223930076.72
49	Niger	2,161,430,605,000
50	Chad	1,966,400,326,800
51	Malawi	1,889,126,000,000
52	Egypt	1,817,410,000,000
53	Togo	1,733,238,000,000
54	United Arab Emirates	1,707,281,004,000
55	Ukraine	1,705,365,890,500
56	Dominican Republic	1,576,017,001,600
57	Iceland	1,547,356,998,000
58	Republic of Congo	1,476,773,068,700
59	Denmark	1,424,069,025,000
60	Norway	1,358,455,009,000
61	Germany	1,345,340,000,000
62	Poland	1,336,523,800,000
63	Equatorial Guinea	1,317,470,908,600
64	South Africa	1,313,755,400,400
65	Saudi Arabia	1,151,453,000,000
66	Malaysia	1,054,317,298,000
67	Nepal	1000007334038.39
68	Albania	960,477,574,500
69	Singapore	951,570,000,000
70	Kyrgyzstan	916,831,256,400
71	Djibouti	872,701,028,600
72	Canada	828,576,577,000
73	France	816,567,000,000
74	United Kingdom	751,389,546,000
75	Morocco	705,277,000,000
76	Netherlands	619,696,858,000
77	Mozambique	609,700,992,200
78	Australia	603,645,000,000
79	Brazil	567828792381.33
80	Afghanistan	555,946,000,000
81	Italy	538,649,500,000
82	Uruguay	514,975,371,000
83	Ethiopia	514,677,964,800
84	Ireland	497,589,658,000
85	Türkiye	468,671,641,200
86	Switzerland	463,882,516,000
87	Romania	460,551,700,000
88	North Macedonia	443,484,000,000
89	Israel	421,126,223,000
90	Spain	416,961,000,000
91	Belgium	383,847,800,000
92	Mauritius	349,496,842,600
93	Syria	324,928,000,000
94	Guinea-Bissau	287,670,520,200
95	Central African Republic	251,684,402,600
96	Guatemala	237,469,192,000
97	Mauritania	235,128,483,300
98	Qatar	222,382,438,800
99	Austria	208,852,444,000
100	Haiti	208,026,794,800
101	Macao	195,633,000,000
102	Argentina	176,814,700,400
103	Peru	176,019,000,000
104	Nicaragua	163,419,199,400
105	Honduras	157,030,100,000
106	Comoros	156,298,643,100
107	Belarus	142,603,700,000
108	Moldova	141,898,121,100
109	Namibia	136,251,734,400
110	Cabo Verde	132,302,811,600
111	Luxembourg	111,747,182,000
112	Portugal	105,663,389,000
113	Bhutan	92,252,139,600
114	Finland	92,042,955,000
115	New Zealand	90,025,401,000
116	Greece	88,832,901,000
117	Slovakia	86,456,181,000
118	Botswana	83,198,298,500
119	Bulgaria	81,882,279,000
120	Yemen	80,870,486,700
121	Maldives	73,212,639,600
122	Bolivia	72600461380.92
123	Ghana	55,705,490,100
124	Tunisia	49,197,839,100
125	Vanuatu	48,711,000,000
126	Slovenia	41,482,793,000
127	Lithuania	41,463,497,000
128	Croatia	40,361,553,500
129	Georgia	40231656723.74
130	Panama	36061251140.21
131	Eswatini	35,111,784,200
132	Gambia	31454226693.43
133	Cyprus	29,796,088,000
134	Ecuador	29,546,203,400
135	Seychelles	28,090,182,600
136	Estonia	23,290,331,000
137	Bosnia and Herzegovina	23,181,890,700
138	Sierra Leone	22267389272.43
139	Lesotho	21,587,418,000
140	Latvia	21,120,610,000
141	Libya	20,491,300,000
142	Malta	20465455766.48
143	Oman	16337054591.16
144	Zimbabwe	15,734,473,300
145	Kuwait	15,140,400,000
146	El Salvador	14,947,722,000
147	Brunei	11242508906.14
148	Bahrain	11,109,704,500
149	Greenland	10,335,200,000
150	Solomon Islands	8883327618.37
151	Cuba	7,233,000,000
152	Palestine	6,555,800,000
153	Kosovo	5327448206.78
154	Bahamas	5,088,200,000
155	South Sudan	4,741,828,200
156	Tajikistan	4,056,505,700
157	Venezuela	4011352974.26
158	Montenegro	3,764,895,900
159	Guam	3,764,000,000
160	U.S. Virgin Islands	3,356,000,000
161	Belize	3,026,720,800
162	San Marino	2195372111.4
163	Bermuda	1,887,300,000
164	Samoa	1,295,086,900
165	Timor-Leste	1246246754.31
166	Sudan	973,625,800
167	Northern Mariana Islands	715,000,000
168	Tonga	674105563.59
169	American Samoa	619,000,000
170	Kiribati	366602520.22
171	Marshall Islands	200603912.35
172	Palau	178260238.65

Analysis

This metric measures the total value of imports of goods and services for each country, expressed in constant local currency units (LCU). According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code NE.IMP.GNFS.KN), imports of goods includes change in the economic ownership of goods from non-residents to residents of the compiling economy, irrespective of physical movement of goods across national borders. Imports of services includes services provided by non-residents to residents. This indicator is expressed in constant prices, meaning the series has been adjusted to account for price changes over time. The dataset covers 172 countries, with 169 of 172 (98.3%) having data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints classified as official. The latest data year is 2024, though only 147 of 172 countries (85.5%) report data for that specific year.

The top of the ranking is heavily shaped by the local currency unit effect. Iran ranks 1st at 16,604,739,398,341,900 constant LCU, followed by Viet Nam at rank 2 with 6,229,570,737,059,400, and Indonesia at rank 3 with 2,571,355,650,000,000. Korea, Rep. ranks 4th at 771,407,800,000,000. These outsized values reflect currencies with large nominal unit values rather than necessarily the highest real import volumes in global terms. Somalia ranks 5th at 305,515,072,720,000 constant LCU, and Colombia ranks 6th at 238,927,000,000,000, while Japan ranks 8th at 96,616,079,664,000 despite being one of the world's largest economies by conventional measures.

Notable anomalies appear throughout the middle and lower ranks. The United States ranks 42nd at 3,615,095,987,000 constant LCU, while Somalia ranks 5th at 305,515,072,720,000 — a counterintuitive ordering driven entirely by differences in local currency denomination rather than real import magnitudes. Japan at rank 8 and Germany at rank 61 (1,345,340,000,000) similarly rank lower than much smaller economies such as Guinea at rank 11 (67,580,698,217,850) and Paraguay at rank 9 (91,066,581,565,262). At the lower end, Marshall Islands ranks 171st at 200,603,912 constant LCU and Palau ranks last at 178,260,238, consistent with their small economic size.

The most significant limitation of this metric is that constant LCU values are not comparable across countries. Each country's series is deflated using its own price index and expressed in its own currency, making cross-country ranking an artifact of currency scale rather than actual import volumes. The viability checks flag 15 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold and a variance range spanning over 9.3 quadrillion percent. Countries with high-denomination currencies or high historical inflation will mechanically appear at the top regardless of real import activity. Additionally, 25 of 172 countries do not have 2024 data, relying on earlier observations, and reporting methodologies for goods versus services imports may differ across national statistical agencies.

Methodology

Data source: World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code NE.IMP.GNFS.KN, data year 2024. The metric is defined as follows: imports of goods includes change in the economic ownership of goods from non-residents to residents of the compiling economy, irrespective of physical movement of goods across national borders. Imports of services includes services provided by non-residents to residents. This indicator is expressed in constant prices, meaning the series has been adjusted to account for price changes over time. Values are in absolute constant local currency units (LCU); higher values are treated as better for ranking purposes. The dataset covers 172 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. Recency: 169 of 172 countries (98.3%) have data from the last seven years. Data quality: 100% of datapoints are classified as official, above the 70% threshold. Consistency: 147 of 172 countries (85.5%) report data for the latest year, 2024. The viability checks identified 15 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. Average year-over-year change is 9.7%, well below the 50% volatility threshold. The value range spans 178,260,238.65 to 16,604,739,398,341,900, a spread of over 9.3 quadrillion percent, reflecting the incomparability of local currency units across national economies.

Sources

World Bank