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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Jamaica's merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) rose 1.78 percentage points on 2022 (from 14.52% to 16.3%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.44 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.05 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 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 2.24 percentage points in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.78 percentage points in 2022. 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 0.73 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 78% 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 2023, Jamaica had the 120th 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 Jamaica in the 2023 ranking

• Guyana — 117th of 203: 16.96%
• China — 118th of 203: 16.7%
• Montenegro — 119th of 203: 16.41%
• North Macedonia — 121st of 203: 15.9%
• Czechia — 122nd of 203: 15.81%
• São Tomé and Principe — 123rd of 203: 15.71%

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 64 values

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

• Antigua and Barbuda — 9.54% (2023)
• Argentina — 29.67% (2023)
• Aruba — 7.81% (2023)
• Bahamas, The — 3.86% (2023)
• Barbados — 5.7% (2023)
• Belize — 20.39% (2023)
• Bolivia — 26.34% (2023)

More private sector & trade data for Jamaica

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 41.28% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$7.68 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$1.69 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 67.05% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America & the Caribbean (% of total merchandise imports) — 16.64% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in South Asia (% of total merchandise imports) — 1.43% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.00932% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$)

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

16.3% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is up 15.91 percentage points from 0.38% in 1960. The highest value was 17.3% in 2021 and the lowest 0.1% in 1969.

How does Jamaica rank?

120th highest of 203 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) unusual for Jamaica?

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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