French Polynesia: Food imports (% of merchandise imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, French Polynesia's food imports (% of merchandise imports) rose 1.67 percentage points on 2024 (from 15.94% to 17.61%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1982 to 2024), the average change was −0.2 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.45 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 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 4.51 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.26 percentage points in 2023. 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 0.84 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 47% 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, French Polynesia had the 24th 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 French Polynesia in the 2025 ranking

• Macao SAR, China — 20th of 103: 18.29%
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 21st of 103: 18.19%
• Latvia — 22nd of 103: 18.09%
• Guatemala — 24th of 103: 16.94%
• Kenya — 25th of 103: 16.65%
• Kuwait — 26th of 103: 16.04%

What this measures

Food comprises the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 0 (food and live animals), 1 (beverages and tobacco), and 4 (animal and vegetable oils and fats) and division 22 (oil seeds, oil nuts, and oil kernels). 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 42 values

Food imports (% of merchandise imports) in nearby economies

• Australia — 6.51% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 8.3% (2025)
• Cambodia — 7.41% (2024)
• China — 8.01% (2025)
• Fiji — 19.45% (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 2.78% (2025)
• Indonesia — 10.21% (2025)
• Japan — 9.79% (2025)
• Kiribati — 41.44% (2021)
• Korea, Rep. — 6.47% (2025)

More private sector & trade data for French Polynesia

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$2.45 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$175 million (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 38.74% (2024)
• Agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.8% (2025)
• Fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.46% (2025)
• Manufactures imports (% of merchandise imports) — 40.39% (2025)
• Ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.48% (2025)
• Agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports) — 0.46% (2025)
• Food exports (% of merchandise exports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is French Polynesia's food imports (% of merchandise imports)?

17.61% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1962?

It is down 9.06 percentage points from 26.67% in 1962. The highest value was 26.67% in 1962 and the lowest 15.51% in 2023.

How does French Polynesia rank?

24th highest of 103 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in food imports (% of merchandise imports) unusual for French Polynesia?

In 2025, French Polynesia's food imports (% of merchandise imports) rose 1.67 percentage points on 2024 (from 15.94% to 17.61%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1982 to 2024), the average change was −0.2 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.45 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.FOOD.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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