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

Key figures

Over five years it is down 9.34 percentage points from 9.4% in 2018. Since 1963 it is down 60.96 percentage points from 61.02% in 1963. The World Bank has no value for 37 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2023, Liberia's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) fell 0.6 percentage points on 2022 (from 0.66% to 0.06%).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2022), the average change was −1.61 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 12.65 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 19.95 percentage points in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 43.08 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.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2023, Liberia had the 23rd 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.

Closest to Liberia in the 2023 ranking

• St. Vincent and the Grenadines — 20th of 24: 0.58%
• São Tomé and Principe — 21st of 24: 0.18%
• Timor-Leste — 22nd of 24: 0.06%
• Cabo Verde — 24th of 24: 0.0000583%

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 24 values

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

• Angola — 5.91% (2025)
• Benin — 0.07% (2024)
• Botswana — 10.75% (2023)
• Burkina Faso — 0.25% (2024)
• Burundi — 1.9% (2023)
• Cabo Verde — 0.0000583% (2023)
• Cameroon — 2.21% (2023)
• Central African Republic — 6.32% (2024)
• Comoros — 1.23% (2023)
• Congo, Dem. Rep.

More private sector & trade data for Liberia

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 86.96% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$2.49 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$2.07 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 75.97% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$153.7 million (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 20.52% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Liberia's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports)?

0.06% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1963?

It is down 60.96 percentage points from 61.02% in 1963. The highest value was 79.35% in 1975 and the lowest 0.06% in 2023.

How does Liberia rank?

23rd highest of 24 economies with data for 2023.

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

In 2023, Liberia's ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) fell 0.6 percentage points on 2022 (from 0.66% to 0.06%). Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2022), the average change was −1.61 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 12.65 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.

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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