Central African Republic: Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Central African Republic's merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) rose 18.3% on 2022 (from US$622.33 million to US$736.21 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +11.3% and a typical year strayed about 39.9% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 140.7% in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 92.4% in 1961. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$36.45 million a year. A straight line explains 75% 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about US$803.32 million for 2026. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2021 to 2023 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was US$60.22 million, against US$111.01 million for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2023, Central African Republic had the 185th highest value of the 205 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 Central African Republic in the 2023 ranking

• Equatorial Guinea — 181st of 205: US$1.12 billion
• Burundi — 182nd of 205: US$959.12 million
• Timor-Leste — 183rd of 205: US$897.22 million
• Antigua and Barbuda — 185th of 205: US$668.07 million
• Solomon Islands — 186th of 205: US$655.24 million
• French Polynesia — 187th of 205: US$645.75 million

What this measures

Merchandise imports by the reporting economy are the total merchandise imports by the reporting economy from the rest of the world, as reported in the IMF's Direction of trade database. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

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

All 63 values

Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) in nearby economies

• Angola — US$15.69 billion (2023)
• Benin — US$3.91 billion (2023)
• Botswana — US$5.89 billion (2023)
• Burkina Faso — US$5.88 billion (2023)
• Burundi — US$959.12 million (2023)
• Cabo Verde — US$1.74 billion (2023)
• Cameroon — US$8.62 billion (2023)
• Chad — US$1.39 billion (2023)
• Comoros — US$354.4 million (2023)

More private sector & trade data for Central African Republic

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 27% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$573 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$255 million (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 38.39% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 84.35% (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
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Central African Republic's merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$)?

US$736.21 million in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.MRCH.WL.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB); Direction of Trade database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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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