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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Kiribati's merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports) fell 5.38 percentage points on 2022 (from 41.35% to 35.97%).

Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2022), the average change was +0.5 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.62 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations below 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 13.08 percentage points in 2006 and the biggest yearly fall was 11.83 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 5% 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, Kiribati had the 34th highest value of the 201 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 Kiribati in the 2023 ranking

• Papua New Guinea — 30th of 201: 39.25%
• Zambia — 31st of 201: 37.49%
• Japan — 32nd of 201: 36.59%
• El Salvador — 34th of 201: 34.98%
• Singapore — 35th of 201: 34.44%
• Argentina — 36th of 201: 34.37%

What this measures

Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are 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. No figures are shown for high-income economies, because they are a separate category in the World Bank classification of economies.

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 24 values

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

• American Samoa — 30.18% (2023)
• Australia — 39.96% (2023)
• Brunei Darussalam — 52.27% (2023)
• Cambodia — 80.93% (2023)
• China — 15.21% (2023)
• Fiji — 24.33% (2023)
• French Polynesia — 28.3% (2023)

More private sector & trade data for Kiribati

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$496 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$20 million (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 147.76% (2025)
• Agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) — 2.3% (2021)
• Food imports (% of merchandise imports) — 41.44% (2021)
• Fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) — 12.54% (2021)
• Manufactures imports (% of merchandise imports) — 43.01% (2021)
• Ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.4% (2021)
• Food exports (% of merchandise exports) — 97.22% (2021)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Kiribati's merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports)?

35.97% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is up 5.7 percentage points from 30.27% in 2000. The highest value was 48.15% in 2008 and the lowest 23.6% in 2012.

How does Kiribati rank?

34th highest of 201 economies with data for 2023.

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

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.MRCH.WR.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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