Bhutan's CPIA trade rating (1=low to 6=high) was 3.5 in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 16.67% from 3 in 2015 (1.55% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 3.5 | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 3.5 | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 3 | 2015 |
| Highest | 3.5 | 2016 |
| Lowest | 3 | 2005 |
| Average since 2016 | 3.5 | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 3 | 2005 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Bhutan's CPIA trade rating (1=low to 6=high) did not change 0 on 2024 (from 3.5 to 3.5).
Across the 19 yearly changes before that (2006 to 2024), the average change was +0.03 and a typical year strayed about 0.11 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 0.5 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 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, Bhutan had the 44th highest value of the 72 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Bhutan | 3.5 | 2025 |
| World | 3.67 | 2025 |
| South Asia | 3.7 | 2025 |
| Lower middle income | 3.78 | 2025 |
Closest to Bhutan in the 2025 ranking
- Uzbekistan — 41st of 72: 4
- Vanuatu — 42nd of 72: 4
- Zambia — 43rd of 72: 4
- Burkina Faso — 45th of 72: 3.5
- Comoros — 46th of 72: 3.5
- Congo, Rep. — 47th of 72: 3.5
What this measures
Trade assesses how the policy framework fosters trade in goods.
Limitations: The CPIA exercise is intended to capture the quality of a country's policies and institutional arrangements, focusing on key elements that are within the country's control, rather than on outcomes (such as economic growth rates) that are influenced by events beyond the country's control. More specifically, the CPIA measures the extent to which a country's policy and institutional framework supports sustainable growth and poverty reduction and, consequently, the effective use of development assistance.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a unweighted average.
All 21 values
| Year | CPIA trade rating (1=low to 6=high) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.5 |
| 2024 | 3.5 |
| 2023 | 3.5 |
| 2022 | 3.5 |
| 2021 | 3.5 |
| 2020 | 3.5 |
| 2019 | 3.5 |
| 2018 | 3.5 |
| 2017 | 3.5 |
| 2016 | 3.5 |
| 2015 |
CPIA trade rating (1=low to 6=high) in nearby economies
- Bangladesh — 3 (2025)
- Maldives — 4 (2025)
- Nepal — 4 (2025)
- Sri Lanka — 4 (2025)
More public sector data for Bhutan
- Net incurrence of liabilities, total (current LCU) — 11.71 billion (2020)
- Net incurrence of liabilities, total (% of GDP) — 6.43% (2020)
- Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 32.2 billion (2020)
- Taxes on goods and services (current LCU) — 9.84 billion (2020)
- Taxes on goods and services (% of industry and services value added) — 6.61% (2020)
- Customs and other import duties (current LCU) — 468 million (2020)
- Customs and other import duties (% of tax revenue) — 2.09% (2020)
- Taxes on international trade (current LCU) — 1.58 billion (2020)
- Tax revenue (current LCU) — 22.37 billion (2020)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Bhutan's CPIA trade rating (1=low to 6=high)?
- 3.5 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2005?
- It is up 16.67% from 3 in 2005 (0.77% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 3.5 in 2016 and the lowest 3 in 2005.
- How does Bhutan rank?
- 44th highest of 72 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in CPIA trade rating (1=low to 6=high) unusual for Bhutan?
- In 2025, Bhutan's CPIA trade rating (1=low to 6=high) did not change 0 on 2024 (from 3.5 to 3.5). Across the 19 yearly changes before that (2006 to 2024), the average change was +0.03 and a typical year strayed about 0.11 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 IQ.CPA.TRAD.XQ, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: CPIA database, World Bank Group (WBG), uri: http://www.worldbank.org/ida 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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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