Northern Mariana Islands: Merchandise trade (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2022, Northern Mariana Islands' merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 0 percentage points on 2021 (from 50.55% to 50.55%).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2021), the average change was −3.37 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.5 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 9.45 percentage points in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 31.72 percentage points in 2008. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2013 to 2022 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 4% 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Northern Mariana Islands in the 2022 ranking

• American Samoa — 1st of 3: 117.68%
• Guam — 3rd of 3: 18.42%

What this measures

General merchandise trade includes 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. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

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

All 21 values

Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• American Samoa — 117.68% (2022)
• Australia — 36.04% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 109.99% (2025)
• Cambodia — 127.1% (2025)
• China — 32.59% (2025)
• Fiji — 70.62% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 38.74% (2024)
• Guam — 18.42% (2022)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 371.02% (2025)
• Indonesia — 36.3% (2025)
• Japan — 33.68% (2025)

More private sector & trade data for Northern Mariana Islands

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$512 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$6 million (2025)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 122.6 (2025)
• Export unit value index (2015 = 100) — 138.9 (2025)
• International tourism, number of arrivals — 487,000 (2019)

Every indicator for Northern Mariana Islands is on the Northern Mariana Islands data page.

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Northern Mariana Islands's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?

50.55% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2002?

It is down 64.02 percentage points from 114.56% in 2002. The highest value was 123.14% in 2004 and the lowest 40.38% in 2017.

Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Northern Mariana Islands?

In 2022, Northern Mariana Islands' merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 0 percentage points on 2021 (from 50.55% to 50.55%). Across the 19 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2021), the average change was −3.37 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.5 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TG.VAL.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); World Development Indicators, 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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