Palau: Agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2018, Palau's agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) rose 0.67 percentage points on 2017 (from 1.03% to 1.7%).

Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2008 to 2017), the average change was +0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.25 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.67 percentage points in 2018 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.5 percentage points in 2010. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2009 to 2018 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 15% 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 Palau in the 2018 ranking

• Bangladesh — 1st of 7: 6.03%
• Sierra Leone — 3rd of 7: 1.65%
• Guinea-Bissau — 4th of 7: 1.22%
• Solomon Islands — 5th of 7: 0.69%

What this measures

Agricultural raw materials comprise section 2 of SITC Rev. 3 (crude materials, inedible, except fuels) excluding divisions 22 (oil-seeds and oleaginous fruits), 27 (crude fertilizers and minerals excluding coal, petroleum, and precious stones), and 28 (metalliferous ores and scrap). 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 12 values

Agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) in nearby economies

• Australia — 0.52% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 0.05% (2025)
• Cambodia — 2.97% (2024)
• China — 2.54% (2025)
• Fiji — 0.44% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 0.8% (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 0.06% (2025)
• Indonesia — 1.88% (2025)
• Japan

More private sector & trade data for Palau

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 47.83% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$162 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$3 million (2025)
• International tourism, number of arrivals — 18,400 (2020)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 125.2 (2025)
• Export unit value index (2015 = 100) — 121.7 (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 84.82% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.78% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports)

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 Palau's agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports)?

1.7% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2007?

It is up 0.81 percentage points from 0.88% in 2007. The highest value was 1.7% in 2018 and the lowest 0.75% in 2012.

Is the latest change in agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) unusual for Palau?

In 2018, Palau's agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) rose 0.67 percentage points on 2017 (from 1.03% to 1.7%). Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2008 to 2017), the average change was +0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.25 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.AGRI.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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.