Countries by Imports of goods and services (current US$)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

This metric measures the total value of imports of goods and services in current US dollars, using World Bank indicator NE.IMP.GNFS.CD for the data year 2024. Per the source definition, 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, and imports of services includes services provided by non-residents to residents. The indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. The dataset covers 187 countries, with 183 of 187 countries (97.9%) having data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints classified as official quality. 85.0% of countries have data from the latest year (2024). The range runs from $179,699,762 to $4,103,100,000,000, a spread of over 2,283,208%.

The top of the ranking is concentrated among the world's largest economies. The United States ranks 1st at $4.1 trillion, followed by China at rank 2 with $3.2 trillion and Germany at rank 3 with $1.76 trillion. The United Kingdom (rank 4, $1.17 trillion), France (rank 5, $1.08 trillion), and Japan (rank 6, $952 billion) round out the top six. India ranks 7th at $918 billion. Notably, smaller but highly trade-integrated economies appear in the top tier: the Netherlands ranks 8th at $867 billion, Singapore ranks 9th at $786 billion, and Hong Kong SAR ranks 12th at $723 billion, all reflecting their roles as major trading and transit hubs. Ireland ranks 15th at $622 billion, ahead of much larger economies by population.

In the middle of the ranking, Vietnam ranks 21st at $399 billion and Thailand ranks 26th at $351 billion, both reflecting highly export-oriented manufacturing economies with large corresponding import bases. Puerto Rico (US territory) appears at rank 64 with $53.9 billion, and Macao SAR ranks 88th at $24.7 billion. At the lower end, Kiribati ranks 184th at $293 million, Marshall Islands ranks 185th at $237 million, and Palau ranks 186th at $223 million. A notable anomaly is Somalia ranking 112th at $11.86 billion, placing it above several European and Latin American economies, which may reflect data estimation methods given Somalia's limited statistical infrastructure. Sudan ranks 177th at $633 million despite being one of Africa's larger countries by area.

This metric has several important limitations. Values are expressed in current US dollars, so rankings are affected by exchange rate fluctuations and inflation rather than reflecting real changes in trade volumes over time. The viability checks identified 28 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, indicating that some values may be distorted by exceptional circumstances or reporting anomalies. Countries with incomplete statistical systems may have estimated or imputed data, affecting comparability. The 2024 consistency check shows only 85.0% of countries have the latest year data, meaning some values may reflect prior years. Trade in goods and services is captured based on change in economic ownership, not physical movement, which can diverge in economies with significant re-export or transit trade activity.

Methodology

Data source: World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code NE.IMP.GNFS.CD, 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 current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. The ranking covers 187 countries. Of these, 183 (97.9%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Data from the latest year (2024) is available for 85.0% of countries. The viability checks identified 28 extreme outliers using a 3-sigma threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 12.5%. Values range from $179,699,762 (Nauru, rank 187) to $4,103,100,000,000 (United States, rank 1), a spread of over 2,283,208%. Rankings should be interpreted with awareness that current-price values are sensitive to exchange rate movements and that data completeness varies by country.

Sources

• World Bank