Africa Western and Central: Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Africa Western and Central's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports) fell 7.55 percentage points on 2022 (from 23.21% to 15.65%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.42 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.04 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 8.25 percentage points in 2003 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.55 percentage points in 2023. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.76 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 61% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region are the sum of merchandise exports from the reporting economy to other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region as a percentage of total merchandise exports 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.

Limitations: 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.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 64 values

Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 69.93% (2023)
• Algeria — 3.9% (2023)
• Bahrain — 10.77% (2023)
• Djibouti — 1.42% (2023)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 16.63% (2023)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 2.22% (2023)
• Iraq — 0.76% (2023)

More private sector & trade data for Africa Western and Central

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 43.1% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$163.34 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$204.1 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 7.26% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 53.47% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 33.98% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports)

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Questions people ask

What is Africa Western and Central's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports)?

15.65% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is up 13.24 percentage points from 2.41% in 1960. The highest value was 25.19% in 2016 and the lowest 2.41% in 1960.

Is the latest change in merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports) unusual for Africa Western and Central?

In 2023, Africa Western and Central's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports) fell 7.55 percentage points on 2022 (from 23.21% to 15.65%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.42 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.04 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.MRCH.WR.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB); Direction of Trade database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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