Lao PDR's food imports (% of merchandise imports) was 12.69% in 2023, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 8.52 percentage points from 4.17% in 2013.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 12.69% | 2023 |
| Five years earlier | 12.38% | 2018 |
| Ten years earlier | 4.17% | 2013 |
| Highest | 40.89% | 1966 |
| Lowest | 4.17% | 2014 |
| Average since 2014 | 12.8% | 2014–2023 |
| First recorded | 37.13% | 1962 |
What the numbers say
In 2023, Lao PDR's food imports (% of merchandise imports) fell 4.54 percentage points on 2022 (from 17.23% to 12.69%).
Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1963 to 2022), the average change was +0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.37 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations below 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 8.89 percentage points in 1966 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.5 percentage points in 1970. 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 1.21 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 57% 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, Lao PDR had the 21st highest value of the 24 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Lao PDR | 12.69% | 2023 |
| World | 8.88% | 2025 |
| East Asia & Pacific | 7.29% | 2025 |
| Lower middle income | 8.99% | 2025 |
Closest to Lao PDR in the 2023 ranking
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 27 values
| Year | Food imports (% of merchandise imports) |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 12.69 |
| 2022 | 17.23 |
| 2021 | 16.13 |
| 2020 | 19.13 |
| 2019 | 15.68 |
| 2018 | 12.38 |
| 2017 | 12.08 |
| 2016 | 13.25 |
| 2015 | 5.26 |
| 2014 | 4.17 |
| 2013 |
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)
- French Polynesia — 17.61% (2025)
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 2.78% (2025)
- Indonesia — 10.21% (2025)
- Japan — 9.79% (2025)
- Kiribati — 41.44% (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
Questions people ask
- What is Lao PDR's food imports (% of merchandise imports)?
- 12.69% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1962?
- It is down 24.44 percentage points from 37.13% in 1962. The highest value was 40.89% in 1966 and the lowest 4.17% in 2014.
- How does Lao PDR rank?
- 21st highest of 24 economies with data for 2023.
- Is the latest change in food imports (% of merchandise imports) unusual for Lao PDR?
- In 2023, Lao PDR's food imports (% of merchandise imports) fell 4.54 percentage points on 2022 (from 17.23% to 12.69%). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1963 to 2022), the average change was +0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.37 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
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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