Countries by Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, manufactured products (%)
Bermuda leads all 186 ranked countries with a weighted mean applied tariff on manufactured products of 21.85%, more than 300 times higher than the five countries at 0.00%. The gap between the top and bottom of this ranking spans the full range of trade policy orientations, from heavily protected import regimes to fully open borders. This metric captures how much of a cost burden tariffs place on manufactured imports, weighted by actual trade flows.
Ranking 2022
Values shown in %.
Analysis
This metric measures the weighted mean applied tariff rate on manufactured products, expressed as a percentage. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator TM.TAX.MANF.WM.AR.ZS), weighted mean applied tariff is the average of effectively applied rates weighted by the product import shares corresponding to each partner country. Data are classified using the Harmonized System of trade at the six- or eight-digit level. Tariff line data were matched to Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) revision 3 codes to define commodity groups and import weights. Higher values indicate greater tariff protection on manufactured imports. Coverage is strong: 186 countries are included, 96.8% of entries have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official-quality. The data year is 2022, though only 76.9% of entries use data from that exact year. Fourteen extreme outliers were identified using a three-standard-deviation threshold.
The top of the ranking is dominated by small island territories and Central African nations. Bermuda ranks first at 21.85%, followed by the Cayman Islands at 19.66% and Djibouti at 19.62%. The Bahamas ranks fourth at 18.62%. Five Central African countries that share a common external tariff framework — Congo Rep. (17.90%, rank 5), Cameroon (17.52%, rank 6), Equatorial Guinea (16.32%, rank 7), Gabon (15.64%, rank 8), Chad (15.52%, rank 9), and Central African Republic (12.57%, rank 18) — cluster near the top, reflecting a shared regional tariff structure. Bangladesh ranks 15th at 12.94% and Pakistan ranks 32nd at 10.51%, among the higher-ranking populous nations.
The middle of the ranking shows considerable spread. India ranks 70th at 6.22%, while Brazil ranks 52nd at 8.68% and Argentina ranks 60th at 7.80%. All 26 EU member states in the dataset share an identical value of 1.64% and are ranked jointly from 132nd to 157th, reflecting a common external tariff. The United States ranks 158th at 1.61%, just below the EU bloc. At the bottom, five countries — Hong Kong SAR China, Iceland, Macao SAR China, Singapore, and Sudan — all register 0.00% and share ranks 182 through 186. Sudan's presence at 0.00% alongside free-trade jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and Singapore is a notable anomaly. Switzerland ranks 180th at 0.12% and Georgia ranks 177th at 0.19%, among the lowest non-zero values.
Several limitations affect interpretation of this metric. The 76.9% consistency rate for 2022 means that roughly one in four country values is drawn from an earlier year, introducing potential comparability issues. The metric covers manufactured products only; agricultural tariffs, services, and non-tariff barriers are excluded. Weighted mean calculations depend on actual import flows, so countries that import very little of a highly tariffed product will show lower effective rates regardless of their nominal tariff schedules. The 999% spread between the minimum and maximum values, flagged in viability checks, reflects genuine structural differences but also raises questions about the comparability of small territories such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands with large sovereign economies. Fourteen extreme outliers were flagged at the three-standard-deviation threshold.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code TM.TAX.MANF.WM.AR.ZS, with a reference year of 2022. The indicator is defined as follows: weighted mean applied tariff is the average of effectively applied rates weighted by the product import shares corresponding to each partner country. Data are classified using the Harmonized System of trade at the six- or eight-digit level. Tariff line data were matched to Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) revision 3 codes to define commodity groups and import weights. The ranking covers 186 countries. Of these, 180 out of 186 (96.8%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Data from the latest year (2022) are available for 143 of 186 countries (76.9%); remaining entries use the most recent prior year available. Fourteen extreme outliers were identified using a three-standard-deviation threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 18.8%, below the 50% volatility threshold. The value range spans 0.00% to 21.85%, a spread of 999%, which is flagged as a viability concern for cross-country comparison.