Countries by Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports)

Ranking 2023

Values shown in %.

Analysis

This metric measures merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia and Pacific as a share of a country's total merchandise imports. The data source is the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code TM.VAL.MRCH.R1.ZS, with values expressed as a percentage. According to the source definition: 'Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia and Pacific are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from low- and middle-income economies in the East Asia and Pacific region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the' relevant trade data are available. The dataset covers 205 countries, all with data from 2023, representing 100% recency. Data quality is 100% official. The viability check identified 35 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the value range spans 0.07% to 97.10%, a spread of over 139,000%.

The top of the ranking is dominated by economies in or immediately adjacent to East Asia and Pacific. Korea, Dem. People's Rep. leads at 97.1% (rank 1), followed by Lao PDR at 81.9% (rank 2) and Cambodia at 80.9% (rank 3). Myanmar ranks 4th at 61.3%, and Solomon Islands 5th at 55.6%. These top-ranked countries are either geographically embedded within the East Asia and Pacific region or have highly concentrated bilateral trade relationships with the qualifying economies in it. The Russian Federation appears at rank 9 with 48.6%, reflecting its substantial trade orientation toward East Asian partners. Australia ranks 15th at 40.0% and Japan 20th at 36.6%, both reflecting proximity-driven import sourcing.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable variation across regions. The United States ranks 76th at 22.6%, while China itself ranks 118th at 15.2%, a counterintuitive placement given that China is the largest economy in the region. This reflects that China's imports are drawn from a globally diverse set of partners, many of which are high-income or outside the qualifying East Asia and Pacific low- and middle-income classification. Major European economies cluster in the lower half: Germany ranks 157th at 9.4%, France 170th at 7.3%, and Luxembourg ranks 202nd at just 1.4%. Gibraltar ranks last at 0.07% (rank 205), and Bermuda 204th at 0.55%, both small territories with narrow and specialized import profiles.

Several data limitations apply to this metric. The indicator measures only merchandise trade, excluding services, which can represent a substantial share of economic exchange. The share figure depends on both the numerator (imports from qualifying economies) and the denominator (total merchandise imports), so a country can rank high either because it imports heavily from East Asia and Pacific low- and middle-income economies or because its total import base is narrow. World Bank economy classifications determine which partner countries qualify, and reclassification of any economy could shift rankings. The source note specifies that data are computed only if at least half of the relevant trade data are present, meaning some values may reflect incomplete bilateral coverage. The 35 extreme outliers flagged in the viability check suggest that interpretation of individual country values warrants caution.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code TM.VAL.MRCH.R1.ZS, for the reference year 2023. The indicator is defined as follows: 'Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia and Pacific are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from low- and middle-income economies in the East Asia and Pacific region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the' relevant bilateral trade data are available. The dataset covers 205 countries, all of which have data from within the last 7 years (100% recency), and 100% of data points are classified as official quality. The viability check identified 35 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. The value range runs from 0.07% (Gibraltar) to 97.10% (Korea, Dem. People's Rep.), representing a spread of over 139,000%. Average year-over-year change is 24.5%, within the 50% volatility threshold. Higher values indicate a greater share of total merchandise imports sourced from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia and Pacific.

Sources

• World Bank