Belgium's merchandise trade (% of GDP) was 152.43% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 15.1 percentage points from 167.53% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 152.43% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 154.56% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 167.53% | 2015 |
| Highest | 213.59% | 2022 |
| Lowest | 133.19% | 1999 |
| Average since 2016 | 170.22% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 133.19% | 1999 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Belgium's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 8.62 percentage points on 2024 (from 161.04% to 152.43%).
Across the 25 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2024), the average change was +1.11 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 15.49 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations below 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 33.46 percentage points in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 37.88 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 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% 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 2025, Belgium had the 8th 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 152.43% | 2025 |
| World | 43.89% | 2025 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 62.17% | 2025 |
| High income | 45.19% | 2025 |
Closest to Belgium in the 2025 ranking
- Viet Nam — 4th of 188: 180.05%
- Singapore — 5th of 188: 177.64%
- Slovak Republic — 6th of 188: 160.52%
- Malaysia — 8th of 188: 151.73%
- Kiribati — 9th of 188: 147.76%
- Netherlands — 10th of 188: 139.54%
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 27 values
| Year | Merchandise trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 152.43 |
| 2024 | 161.04 |
| 2023 | 175.71 |
| 2022 | 213.59 |
| 2021 | 180.13 |
| 2020 | 154.56 |
| 2019 | 163.17 |
| 2018 | 170.17 |
| 2017 | 167.47 |
| 2016 | 163.94 |
| 2015 |
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
More private sector & trade data for Belgium
- Agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) — 1.01% (2025)
- Food imports (% of merchandise imports) — 12.82% (2025)
- Fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) — 14.56% (2025)
- Manufactures imports (% of merchandise imports) — 65.82% (2025)
- Ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports) — 4.99% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports) — 1.17% (2025)
- Food exports (% of merchandise exports) — 13.81% (2025)
- Fuel exports (% of merchandise exports) — 10.2% (2025)
- Manufactures exports (% of merchandise exports) — 69.37% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Belgium's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?
- 152.43% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1999?
- It is up 19.24 percentage points from 133.19% in 1999. The highest value was 213.59% in 2022 and the lowest 133.19% in 1999.
- How does Belgium rank?
- 8th highest of 188 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Belgium?
- In 2025, Belgium's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 8.62 percentage points on 2024 (from 161.04% to 152.43%). Across the 25 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2024), the average change was +1.11 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 15.49 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations below 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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