Lao PDR: Food exports (% of merchandise exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Lao PDR's food exports (% of merchandise exports) rose 3.59 percentage points on 2022 (from 19.64% to 23.23%).

Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1963 to 2022), the average change was −1.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.87 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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 14.6 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 13.53 percentage points in 2021. 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 less than 1% 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, Lao PDR had the 11th highest value of the 23 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 Lao PDR in the 2023 ranking

• Dominica — 7th of 23: 41.22%
• Eswatini — 8th of 23: 29.7%
• Liberia — 9th of 23: 24.46%
• Cameroon — 11th of 23: 22.85%
• West Bank and Gaza — 12th of 23: 21.4%
• Papua New Guinea — 13th of 23: 19.72%

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 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 27 values

Food exports (% of merchandise exports) in nearby economies

• Australia — 13.74% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 0.11% (2025)
• Cambodia — 15.38% (2024)
• China — 2.34% (2025)
• Fiji — 55.36% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 7.42% (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 1.34% (2025)
• Indonesia — 22.92% (2025)
• Japan — 1.28% (2025)
• Kiribati — 97.22% (2021)

More private sector & trade data for Lao PDR

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$10.34 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$12.38 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 17.45% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 81.87% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$5.47 billion (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports) — 81.87% (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Lao PDR's food exports (% of merchandise exports)?

23.23% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1962?

It is down 2.26 percentage points from 25.49% in 1962. The highest value was 29.34% in 2016 and the lowest 0.81% in 1973.

How does Lao PDR rank?

11th highest of 23 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in food exports (% of merchandise exports) unusual for Lao PDR?

In 2023, Lao PDR's food exports (% of merchandise exports) rose 3.59 percentage points on 2022 (from 19.64% to 23.23%). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1963 to 2022), the average change was −1.15 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.87 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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 TX.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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