Central African Republic: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Central African Republic's merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) rose 11.07 percentage points on 2022 (from 18.94% to 30.01%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.55 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.44 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.6 standard deviations above 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 15.72 percentage points in 2012 and the biggest yearly fall was 14.56 percentage points in 2011. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 6% 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 2023, Central African Republic had the 62nd highest value of the 203 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

• Lebanon — 59th of 203: 30.76%
• Burkina Faso — 60th of 203: 30.64%
• Malawi — 61st of 203: 30.07%
• Congo, Rep. — 63rd of 203: 29.87%
• Peru — 64th of 203: 29.84%
• Cuba — 65th of 203: 29.78%

What this measures

Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in other World Bank regions according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.

Limitations: Data on exports and imports are from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Direction of Trade database and should be broadly consistent with data from other sources, such as the United Nations Statistics Division's Commodity Trade (Comtrade) database. All high-income economies and major low- and middle-income economies report trade data to the IMF on a timely basis, covering about 85 percent of trade for recent years. Trade data for less timely reporters and for countries that do not report are estimated using reports of trading partner countries. Therefore, data on trade between developing and high-income economies should be generally complete.

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

All 60 values

Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) in nearby economies

• Angola — 33.39% (2023)
• Benin — 43.38% (2023)
• Botswana — 6.63% (2023)
• Burkina Faso — 30.64% (2023)
• Burundi — 21.64% (2023)
• Cabo Verde — 15.51% (2023)
• Cameroon — 42.87% (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$255 million (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 38.39% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$736.21 million (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)

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 Central African Republic's merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports)?

30.01% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is up 27.83 percentage points from 2.17% in 1960. The highest value was 32.41% in 2018 and the lowest 0.1% in 1980.

How does Central African Republic rank?

62nd highest of 203 economies with data for 2023.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.MRCH.OR.ZS, 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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