Faroe Islands's merchandise trade (% of GDP) was 80.78% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 6.62 percentage points from 74.16% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 80.78% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 81.34% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 74.16% | 2014 |
| Highest | 98.82% | 1984 |
| Lowest | 67.29% | 2009 |
| Average since 2015 | 81.97% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 89.73% | 1965 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Faroe Islands' merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 9.15 percentage points on 2023 (from 89.93% to 80.78%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.61 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.59 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 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 14.98 percentage points in 1984 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.56 percentage points in 2004. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.29 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 42% 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 2024, Faroe Islands had the 2nd highest value of the 10 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Faroe Islands | 80.78% | 2024 |
| World | 43.89% | 2025 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 62.17% | 2025 |
| High income | 45.19% | 2025 |
Closest to Faroe Islands in the 2024 ranking
- United Arab Emirates — 1st of 10: 208.15%
- Curaçao — 3rd of 10: 71.55%
- New Caledonia — 4th of 10: 41.09%
- Aruba — 5th of 10: 39.66%
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 60 values
| Year | Merchandise trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 80.78 |
| 2023 | 89.93 |
| 2022 | 94.63 |
| 2021 | 83.04 |
| 2020 | 77.51 |
| 2019 | 81.34 |
| 2018 | 78.34 |
| 2017 | 81.51 |
| 2016 | 77.56 |
| 2015 | 75.1 |
| 2014 |
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
More private sector & trade data for Faroe Islands
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$1.67 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$2.06 billion (2025)
- Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 84.12% (2023)
- Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.000386% (2023)
- Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$1.93 billion (2023)
- Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 87.79% (2023)
- Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0% (2023)
- Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Faroe Islands's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?
- 80.78% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1965?
- It is down 8.94 percentage points from 89.73% in 1965. The highest value was 98.82% in 1984 and the lowest 67.29% in 2009.
- How does Faroe Islands rank?
- 2nd highest of 10 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Faroe Islands?
- In 2024, Faroe Islands' merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 9.15 percentage points on 2023 (from 89.93% to 80.78%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.61 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.59 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 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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