Bahamas, The's merchandise trade (% of GDP) was 35.58% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 4.64 percentage points from 40.22% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 35.58% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 29.06% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 40.22% | 2014 |
| Highest | 957.78% | 1977 |
| Lowest | 24.51% | 2020 |
| Average since 2015 | 30.84% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 42.42% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Bahamas, The's merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 3.33 percentage points on 2023 (from 32.24% to 35.58%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.55 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 342.98 percentage points in 1975 and the biggest yearly fall was 254.94 percentage points in 1982. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 22% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2024, Bahamas, The had the 7th highest value of the 10 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Bahamas, The | 35.58% | 2024 |
| World | 43.89% | 2025 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 44.2% | 2025 |
| High income | 45.19% | 2025 |
Closest to Bahamas, The in the 2024 ranking
- New Caledonia — 4th of 10: 41.09%
- Aruba — 5th of 10: 39.66%
- French Polynesia — 6th of 10: 38.74%
- Cayman Islands — 8th of 10: 26.44%
- Turks and Caicos Islands — 9th of 10: 26.24%
- Bermuda — 10th of 10: 14.55%
What this measures
General merchandise trade includes goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 65 values
| Year | Merchandise trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 35.58 |
| 2023 | 32.24 |
| 2022 | 31.85 |
| 2021 | 33.45 |
| 2020 | 24.51 |
| 2019 | 29.06 |
| 2018 | 31.47 |
| 2017 | 31.34 |
| 2016 | 28.43 |
| 2015 | 30.45 |
| 2014 |
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Antigua and Barbuda — 41.49% (2025)
- Argentina — 23.85% (2025)
- Aruba — 39.66% (2024)
- Barbados — 33.14% (2025)
- Belize — 56.37% (2025)
- Bolivia — 30.46% (2025)
- Brazil — 28.16% (2025)
- Cayman Islands — 26.44% (2024)
- Chile — 55.87% (2025)
- Colombia — 26.36% (2025)
- Costa Rica — 52.39% (2025)
More private sector & trade data for Bahamas, The
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$5.52 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$711 million (2025)
- Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 52.12% (2023)
- Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0% (2023)
- Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$1.09 billion (2023)
- Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 93.55% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 3.86% (2023)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Bahamas, The's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?
- 35.58% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is down 6.84 percentage points from 42.42% in 1960. The highest value was 957.78% in 1977 and the lowest 24.51% in 2020.
- How does Bahamas, The rank?
- 7th highest of 10 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Bahamas, The?
- In 2024, Bahamas, The's merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 3.33 percentage points on 2023 (from 32.24% to 35.58%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0.13 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.55 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TG.VAL.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB) 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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