Countries by Tariff rate, most favored nation, weighted mean, all products (%)
Bermuda ranks first among 186 countries with a weighted mean most favored nation tariff rate of 29.52%, more than double the rate of second-ranked Sudan at 25.17%. At the other end, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR both record 0.00%, alongside Singapore at just 0.11%. The gap between the highest and lowest rates reflects the wide variation in trade policy regimes across the global economy.
Ranking 2022
Values shown in %.
Analysis
This metric measures the weighted mean most favored nation tariff applied to all imported goods. The World Bank defines it as follows: 'Weighted mean most favored nation tariff is the average of most favored nation 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 unit is percentage (%), and higher values indicate greater average tariff protection. Coverage is strong: 186 countries are included, 96.8% have data from the last seven years, and 100% of data points are classified as official. Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code TM.TAX.MRCH.WM.FN.ZS, for the reference year 2022, though 76.9% of observations are from that exact year.
The top of the ranking is dominated by small island economies and Sub-Saharan African nations. Bermuda leads at 29.52%, followed by Sudan (25.17%, rank 2) and Solomon Islands (20.66%, rank 3). Cayman Islands (20.39%, rank 4) and Belize (20.00%, rank 5) round out the top five. Several West and Central African countries cluster in the upper tier, including Gambia (18.49%, rank 6), Congo Rep. (18.18%, rank 9), Equatorial Guinea (18.18%, rank 9), Rwanda (18.15%, rank 11), and Cameroon (18.08%, rank 12). Egypt ranks 13th at 17.88%. These high rates are consistent with tariff structures that weigh heavily on a broad range of imported product categories.
The middle of the ranking includes a mix of large emerging economies and smaller developing states. Brazil ranks 67th at 9.06%, South Korea ranks 73rd at 8.67%, and South Africa ranks 101st at 6.42%. India ranks 106th at 5.99%, and China ranks 145th at 2.86%. A notable feature of the lower portion of the ranking is a block of 27 European Union member states all sharing an identical value of 2.68%, occupying ranks 149 through 175 jointly, which reflects the EU's common external tariff. The United States ranks 177th at 2.53%, and Japan ranks 180th at 2.42%. Peru ranks 181st at 1.96%, and Mauritius ranks 182nd at 1.59%, placing them among the most open economies by this measure.
Several data limitations apply. The metric reflects weighted mean rates and not simple averages, meaning products with high import volumes have greater influence on a country's score. Preferential trade agreement rates are not captured; only most favored nation rates are included. Countries that have signed extensive free trade agreements may appear to have high MFN rates even when most of their actual trade occurs at lower preferential rates. The viability checks identified 12 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the data range runs from 0.00% to 29.52%, a spread of approximately 999%. Year-on-year volatility averages 14.2%, which can reflect both genuine policy changes and data revisions. The 23.1% of observations not from 2022 introduce some cross-country comparability limitations.
Methodology
Data are sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code TM.TAX.MRCH.WM.FN.ZS, with a reference year of 2022. The definition used is verbatim from the source: 'Weighted mean most favored nation tariff is the average of most favored nation 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, 96.8% have data from within the last seven years, and 76.9% have data specifically from 2022. All 100% of data points carry official quality classification. The viability checks identified 12 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. The data range spans 0.00% to 29.52%, representing a spread of approximately 999%. Average year-over-year change is 14.2%, within the acceptable volatility threshold of 50%. The metric does not capture preferential or free trade agreement rates, only MFN rates.