Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)'s trade (% of GDP) was 55.54% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 5.07 percentage points from 60.61% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 55.54% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 55.4% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 60.61% | 2014 |
| Highest | 65% | 2011 |
| Lowest | 38.81% | 1960 |
| Average since 2015 | 55.61% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 38.81% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)'s trade (% of GDP) fell 1.61 percentage points on 2023 (from 57.15% to 55.54%).
Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2012 to 2023), the average change was −0.65 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.71 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below 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 4.65 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.44 percentage points in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 2% 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) | 55.54% | 2024 |
| World | 68.49% | 2025 |
What this measures
Trade is the sum of exports and imports of goods and services. 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 15 values
| Year | Trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 55.54 |
| 2023 | 57.15 |
| 2022 | 58.85 |
| 2021 | 55.61 |
| 2020 | 50.96 |
| 2019 | 55.4 |
| 2018 | 56.44 |
| 2017 | 54.02 |
| 2016 | 54.95 |
| 2015 | 57.18 |
| 2014 | 60.61 |
Trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
More economic policy & debt data for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
- Charges for the use of intellectual property, payments (BoP, current US$) — US$3.07 billion (2025)
- Portfolio equity, net inflows (BoP, current US$) — −US$472.27 million (2025)
- GDP (current US$) — US$2.21 trillion (2025)
- GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$2.13 trillion (2025)
- GDP per capita (current US$) — US$1,671 (2025)
- GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$1,614 (2025)
- GDP (annual % growth) — 4.14% (2025)
- GDP per capita (annual % growth) — 1.64% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)'s trade (% of GDP)?
- 55.54% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 16.74 percentage points from 38.81% in 1960. The highest value was 65% in 2011 and the lowest 38.81% in 1960.
- Is the latest change in trade (% of GDP) unusual for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)?
- In 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)'s trade (% of GDP) fell 1.61 percentage points on 2023 (from 57.15% to 55.54%). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2012 to 2023), the average change was −0.65 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.71 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below 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 NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); 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.
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