Least developed countries: UN classification | Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports)
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data. No figures are shown for high-income economies, because they are a separate category in the World Bank classification of economies. Development relevance: The relative importance of intraregional trade is higher for both landlocked countries and small countries with close trade links to the largest regional economy. For most low- and middle-income economies - especially smaller ones - there is a "geographic bias" favoring intraregional trade. Despite the broad trend toward globalization and the reduction of trade barriers, the relative share of intraregional trade increased for most economies between 1999 and 2010. This is due partly to trade-related advantages, such as proximity, lower transport costs, increased knowledge from repeated interaction, and cultural and historical affinity. The direction of trade is also influenced by preferential trade agreements that a country has made with other economies. Though formal agreements on trade liberalization do not automatically increase trade, they nevertheless affect the direction of trade between the participating economies. Limitations and exceptions: Data on exports and imports are from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Direction of Trade database and should be broadly consistent with data from other sources, such as the United Nations Statistics Division's Commodity Trade (Comtrade) database. All high-income economies and major low- and middle-income economies report trade data to the IMF on a timely basis, covering about 85 percent of trade for recent years. Trade data for less timely reporters and for countries that do not report are estimated using reports of trading partner countries. Therefore, data on trade between developing and high-income economies should be generally complete. But trade flows between many low- and middle-income economies - particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa - are not well recorded, and the value of trade among low- and middle-income economies may be understated.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Least developed countries: UN classification
Records
63
Source
Least developed countries: UN classification | Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports)
1960 5.84621596
1961 5.50909152
1962 6.33339226
1963 7.72115327
1964 12.4292286
1965 13.17309329
1966 12.33915603
1967 11.58868842
1968 13.25701467
1969 12.98186586
1970 12.42008299
1971 12.13607322
1972 11.62898596
1973 12.31516979
1974 11.16644899
1975 10.10222966
1976 9.71908294
1977 9.85735765
1978 8.22689326
1979 8.21689314
1980 8.90044775
1981 8.8365096
1982 9.81570492
1983 9.6650854
1984 10.08049665
1985 8.67329173
1986 9.3797797
1987 9.50567028
1988 9.96189942
1989 11.54035899
1990 11.0677871
1991 10.75518033
1992 12.41529348
1993 14.73852256
1994 16.46239847
1995 18.13024199
1996 20.57428615
1997 19.56469174
1998 19.18688371
1999 20.27521686
2000 23.06025659
2001 22.73417681
2002 22.87992853
2003 23.84669811
2004 28.63052357
2005 25.48089895
2006 23.59979638
2007 21.91555552
2008 21.78270065
2009 20.65015654
2010 21.43629375
2011 22.63338872
2012 22.70495937
2013 23.07511723
2014 24.09990229
2015 23.96912978
2016 25.76722537
2017 26.6263935
2018 29.04065817
2019 28.372012
2020 29.34645238
2021
2022
Least developed countries: UN classification | Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports)
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data. No figures are shown for high-income economies, because they are a separate category in the World Bank classification of economies. Development relevance: The relative importance of intraregional trade is higher for both landlocked countries and small countries with close trade links to the largest regional economy. For most low- and middle-income economies - especially smaller ones - there is a "geographic bias" favoring intraregional trade. Despite the broad trend toward globalization and the reduction of trade barriers, the relative share of intraregional trade increased for most economies between 1999 and 2010. This is due partly to trade-related advantages, such as proximity, lower transport costs, increased knowledge from repeated interaction, and cultural and historical affinity. The direction of trade is also influenced by preferential trade agreements that a country has made with other economies. Though formal agreements on trade liberalization do not automatically increase trade, they nevertheless affect the direction of trade between the participating economies. Limitations and exceptions: Data on exports and imports are from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Direction of Trade database and should be broadly consistent with data from other sources, such as the United Nations Statistics Division's Commodity Trade (Comtrade) database. All high-income economies and major low- and middle-income economies report trade data to the IMF on a timely basis, covering about 85 percent of trade for recent years. Trade data for less timely reporters and for countries that do not report are estimated using reports of trading partner countries. Therefore, data on trade between developing and high-income economies should be generally complete. But trade flows between many low- and middle-income economies - particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa - are not well recorded, and the value of trade among low- and middle-income economies may be understated.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Least developed countries: UN classification
Records
63
Source