Bhutan: Ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 0.33 percentage points from 1.99% in 2020. Since 1993 it is down 0.53 percentage points from 2.84% in 1993. The World Bank has no value for 13 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 5.95 percentage points in 2006 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.54 percentage points in 2008. 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 0.08 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 41% of the movement over 8 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, Bhutan had the 49th highest value of the 103 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.

Closest to Bhutan in the 2025 ranking

• Mexico — 46th of 103: 2.39%
• Romania — 47th of 103: 2.37%
• France — 48th of 103: 2.33%
• Philippines — 50th of 103: 2.31%
• Switzerland — 51st of 103: 2.29%
• Kuwait — 52nd of 103: 2.24%

What this measures

Ores and metals comprise the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 27 (crude fertilizer, minerals nes); 28 (metalliferous ores, scrap); and 68 (non-ferrous metals). Imports of services are services provided by non-residents to residents. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise imports which is comprised of goods whose economic ownership is changed between a non-resident and a 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.

Limitations: Previous editions contained data based on the SITC revision 1. Data for earlier years in previous editions may differ because of the change in methodology. Concordance tables are available to convert data reported in one system to another.

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

All 20 values

Ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 3.79% (2018)
• India — 7.67% (2025)
• Maldives — 3.54% (2025)
• Nepal — 2.29% (2022)
• Sri Lanka — 1.7% (2025)

More private sector & trade data for Bhutan

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 83.28% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$2.18 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$800 million (2025)
• International tourism, number of arrivals — 29,800 (2020)
• International tourism, receipts (current US$) — US$84 million (2020)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 132.5 (2025)
• Export unit value index (2015 = 100) — 150.3 (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 4.9% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Bhutan's ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports)?

2.31% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1993?

It is down 0.53 percentage points from 2.84% in 1993. The highest value was 10.33% in 2007 and the lowest 0.76% in 1998.

How does Bhutan rank?

49th highest of 103 economies with data for 2025.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.MMTL.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); Staff estimates, 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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