Brunei Darussalam: Merchandise trade (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Brunei Darussalam's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 10.95 percentage points on 2024 (from 120.94% to 109.99%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +1.94 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 9.69 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 158.74 percentage points in 1971 and the biggest yearly fall was 154.57 percentage points in 1972. 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 upward, about 7.01 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 61% 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, Brunei Darussalam had the 17th 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.

Closest to Brunei Darussalam in the 2025 ranking

• Lao PDR — 14th of 188: 124.13%
• Thailand — 15th of 188: 118.64%
• North Macedonia — 16th of 188: 115.78%
• Suriname — 18th of 188: 108.1%
• Mongolia — 19th of 188: 106.72%
• Guyana — 20th of 188: 106.69%

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 61 values

Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• American Samoa — 117.68% (2022)
• Australia — 36.04% (2025)
• Cambodia — 127.1% (2025)
• China — 32.59% (2025)
• Fiji — 70.62% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 38.74% (2024)
• Guam — 18.42% (2022)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 371.02% (2025)
• Indonesia — 36.3% (2025)
• Japan — 33.68% (2025)
• Kiribati — 147.76% (2025)

More private sector & trade data for Brunei Darussalam

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$6.04 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$10.5 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 46.42% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$5.69 billion (2023)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 61.34% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0% (2023)

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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Questions people ask

What is Brunei Darussalam's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?

109.99% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1965?

It is up 21.43 percentage points from 88.57% in 1965. The highest value was 258.7% in 1971 and the lowest 47.73% in 1980.

How does Brunei Darussalam rank?

17th highest of 188 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Brunei Darussalam?

In 2025, Brunei Darussalam's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 10.95 percentage points on 2024 (from 120.94% to 109.99%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +1.94 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 9.69 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

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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