Kiribati: Ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 0.37 percentage points from 0.97% in 2016. Since 1973 it is down 88.56 percentage points from 89.16% in 1973. The World Bank has no value for 20 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2021, Kiribati's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) rose 0.15 percentage points on 2020 (from 0.45% to 0.6%).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1974 to 2020), the average change was −0.26 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.12 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 17.01 percentage points in 1975 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.74 percentage points in 1974. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% of the movement over 8 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Kiribati in the 2021 ranking

• Russian Federation — 1st of 3: 7.4%
• Belarus — 2nd of 3: 1.15%

What this measures

Ores and metals comprise the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 27 (crude fertilizer, minerals nes); 28 (metalliferous ores, scrap); and 68 (non-ferrous metals). Exports of services are services provided by residents to non-residents. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise exports which is comprised of 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.

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 29 values

Ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) in nearby economies

• Australia — 34.64% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 0.21% (2025)
• Cambodia — 2.19% (2024)
• China — 1.63% (2025)
• Fiji — 4.4% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 0.000692% (2024)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 2.03% (2025)
• Indonesia — 9.15% (2025)
• Japan — 3.56% (2025)
• Korea, Rep.

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 ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports)?

0.6% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1973?

It is down 88.56 percentage points from 89.16% in 1973. The highest value was 96.43% in 1975 and the lowest 0% in 1989.

Is the latest change in ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) unusual for Kiribati?

In 2021, Kiribati's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) rose 0.15 percentage points on 2020 (from 0.45% to 0.6%). Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1974 to 2020), the average change was −0.26 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.12 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.MMTL.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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