Sierra Leone's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports) was 77.76% in 2023, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 11.75 percentage points from 89.5% in 2013.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 77.76% | 2023 |
| Five years earlier | 54.1% | 2018 |
| Ten years earlier | 89.5% | 2013 |
| Highest | 89.5% | 2013 |
| Lowest | 0.000802% | 1985 |
| Average since 2014 | 62.41% | 2014–2023 |
| First recorded | 0.13% | 1965 |
What the numbers say
In 2023, Sierra Leone's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports) rose 4.88 percentage points on 2022 (from 72.88% to 77.76%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1971 to 2022), the average change was +1.6 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 16.35 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 36.52 percentage points in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 32.65 percentage points in 2015. 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 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
In 2023, Sierra Leone had the 6th highest value of the 201 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Sierra Leone | 77.76% | 2023 |
| World | 18.1% | 2023 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 31.16% | 2023 |
| Low income | 36.16% | 2023 |
Closest to Sierra Leone in the 2023 ranking
- Eritrea — 3rd of 201: 79.7%
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 4th of 201: 78.61%
- Yemen, Rep. — 5th of 201: 78.6%
- Dominica — 7th of 201: 72.36%
- Benin — 8th of 201: 72.05%
- Turkmenistan — 9th of 201: 65.14%
What this measures
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region are the sum of merchandise exports from the reporting economy to other low- and middle-income economies in other World Bank regions according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed 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.
Limitations: Data on exports and imports are from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Direction of Trade database and should be broadly consistent with data from other sources, such as the United Nations Statistics Division's Commodity Trade (Comtrade) database. All high-income economies and major low- and middle-income economies report trade data to the IMF on a timely basis, covering about 85 percent of trade for recent years. Trade data for less timely reporters and for countries that do not report are estimated using reports of trading partner countries. Therefore, data on trade between developing and high-income economies should be generally complete.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 37 values
| Year | Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports) |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 77.76 |
| 2022 | 72.88 |
| 2021 | 62.5 |
| 2020 | 59.12 |
| 2019 | 57.72 |
| 2018 | 54.1 |
| 2017 | 66.69 |
| 2016 | 30.18 |
| 2015 | 55.27 |
| 2014 | 87.92 |
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports) in nearby economies
- Angola — 60.19% (2023)
- Benin — 72.05% (2023)
- Botswana — 20.01% (2023)
- Burkina Faso — 2.77% (2023)
- Burundi — 8.48% (2023)
- Cabo Verde — 7.37% (2023)
- Cameroon — 35.94% (2023)
More private sector & trade data for Sierra Leone
- Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 45.91% (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$1.89 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$1.53 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 13.74% (2023)
- Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0.00395% (2023)
- Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$513.99 million (2023)
- Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 10.91% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Sierra Leone's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports)?
- 77.76% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1965?
- It is up 77.63 percentage points from 0.13% in 1965. The highest value was 89.5% in 2013 and the lowest 0.000802% in 1985.
- How does Sierra Leone rank?
- 6th highest of 201 economies with data for 2023.
- Is the latest change in merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports) unusual for Sierra Leone?
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.MRCH.OR.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.
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.
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