New Zealand: Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, New Zealand's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise exports) fell 0.25 percentage points on 2022 (from 1.18% to 0.93%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.18 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.5 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 1.16 percentage points in 1971 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.96 percentage points in 1972. 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 downward, about 0.09 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 82% 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 0.63% for 2026. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2021 to 2023 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.1%, against 0.18% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2023, New Zealand had the 112th highest value of the 196 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 New Zealand in the 2023 ranking

• Germany — 108th of 196: 0.98%
• Timor-Leste — 109th of 196: 0.96%
• Maldives — 110th of 196: 0.95%
• Sweden — 112th of 196: 0.9%
• Kazakhstan — 113th of 196: 0.9%
• United States — 114th of 196: 0.89%

What this measures

Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa are the sum of merchandise exports from the reporting economy to low- and middle-income economies in the Sub-Saharan Africa region according to World Bank classification of economies. Data are as a percentage of total merchandise exports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 64 values

Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise exports) in nearby economies

• American Samoa — 19.72% (2023)
• Australia — 0.61% (2023)
• Brunei Darussalam — 0.1% (2022)
• China — 3.95% (2023)
• Fiji — 0.16% (2017)
• French Polynesia — 0.04% (2022)
• Guam

More private sector & trade data for New Zealand

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 35.69% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$47.55 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$46.7 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.73% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 63.03% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 4.56% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 32.41% (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is New Zealand's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise exports)?

0.93% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.MRCH.R6.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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