Bangladesh's merchandise trade (% of GDP) was 25.76% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 12.38 percentage points from 38.14% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 25.76% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 23.11% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 38.14% | 2015 |
| Highest | 47.16% | 2011 |
| Lowest | 8.47% | 1975 |
| Average since 2016 | 27.94% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 15% | 1972 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Bangladesh's merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 0.18 percentage points on 2024 (from 25.58% to 25.76%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.11 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.71 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 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 6.84 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.1 percentage points in 2016. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.52 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 32% 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
In 2025, Bangladesh had the 174th highest value of the 188 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 25.76% | 2025 |
| World | 43.89% | 2025 |
| South Asia | 30.04% | 2025 |
| Lower middle income | 35.72% | 2025 |
Closest to Bangladesh in the 2025 ranking
- Tanzania — 170th of 188: 27.47%
- Central African Republic — 171st of 188: 27%
- Colombia — 172nd of 188: 26.36%
- Israel — 174th of 188: 25.29%
- Yemen, Rep. — 175th of 188: 24.66%
- Cameroon — 176th of 188: 24.6%
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 54 values
| Year | Merchandise trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 25.76 |
| 2024 | 25.58 |
| 2023 | 25.4 |
| 2022 | 30.35 |
| 2021 | 29.95 |
| 2020 | 23.11 |
| 2019 | 28.02 |
| 2018 | 31.04 |
| 2017 | 30.19 |
| 2016 | 30.04 |
| 2015 |
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
More private sector & trade data for Bangladesh
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$69.37 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$48.17 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports to economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise exports) — 2.33% (2023)
- Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 88.53% (2023)
- Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports) — 6.91% (2023)
- Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise exports) — 3.1% (2023)
- Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies in Europe & Central Asia (% of total merchandise exports)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Bangladesh's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?
- 25.76% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1972?
- It is up 10.76 percentage points from 15% in 1972. The highest value was 47.16% in 2011 and the lowest 8.47% in 1975.
- How does Bangladesh rank?
- 174th highest of 188 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Bangladesh?
- In 2025, Bangladesh's merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 0.18 percentage points on 2024 (from 25.58% to 25.76%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.11 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.71 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 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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