Palau: Merchandise trade (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Palau's merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 3.97 percentage points on 2024 (from 43.86% to 47.83%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.2 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 12.69 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 29.84 percentage points in 2000 and the biggest yearly fall was 29.65 percentage points in 2024. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 1% 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

In 2025, Palau had the 111th highest value of the 188 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 Palau in the 2025 ranking

• Grenada — 107th of 188: 48.44%
• Albania — 108th of 188: 47.89%
• Côte d'Ivoire — 109th of 188: 47.85%
• Tuvalu — 111th of 188: 47.08%
• Iceland — 112th of 188: 46.94%
• Malta — 113th of 188: 46.94%

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 32 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 Palau

• 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) — 14.4% (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Palau's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?

47.83% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1994?

It is down 2.11 percentage points from 49.93% in 1994. The highest value was 92.94% in 2000 and the lowest 43.86% in 2024.

How does Palau rank?

111th highest of 188 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Palau?

In 2025, Palau's merchandise trade (% of GDP) rose 3.97 percentage points on 2024 (from 43.86% to 47.83%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.2 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 12.69 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.

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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