Tajikistan: Food imports (% of merchandise imports)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 7.32 percentage points from 19.14% in 2018. Since 2000 it is up 16.25 percentage points from 10.21% in 2000. The World Bank has no value for 13 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2023, Tajikistan's food imports (% of merchandise imports) rose 4.33 percentage points on 2022 (from 22.13% to 26.46%).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2015 to 2022), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.54 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 4.33 percentage points in 2023 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.81 percentage points in 2021. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.4 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 32% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2023, Tajikistan had the 7th highest value of the 24 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 Tajikistan in the 2023 ranking

• West Bank and Gaza — 4th of 24: 30.92%
• Aruba — 5th of 24: 30.75%
• Timor-Leste — 6th of 24: 28.06%
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 8th of 24: 26.1%
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines — 9th of 24: 26%
• Dominica — 10th of 24: 25.16%

What this measures

Food comprises the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 0 (food and live animals), 1 (beverages and tobacco), and 4 (animal and vegetable oils and fats) and division 22 (oil seeds, oil nuts, and oil kernels). 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 11 values

Food imports (% of merchandise imports) in nearby economies

• Albania — 16.6% (2024)
• Andorra — 21.66% (2025)
• Armenia — 13.72% (2025)
• Austria — 9.75% (2025)
• Azerbaijan — 12.44% (2025)
• Belarus — 10.34% (2021)
• Belgium — 12.82% (2025)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 18.19% (2025)
• Bulgaria — 13.5% (2025)
• Croatia — 14.95% (2025)
• Cyprus

More private sector & trade data for Tajikistan

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 61.13% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$8.31 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$2.49 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 44.25% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 27.1% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$7.06 billion (2023)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Tajikistan's food imports (% of merchandise imports)?

26.46% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is up 16.25 percentage points from 10.21% in 2000. The highest value was 26.46% in 2023 and the lowest 10.21% in 2000.

How does Tajikistan rank?

7th highest of 24 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in food imports (% of merchandise imports) unusual for Tajikistan?

In 2023, Tajikistan's food imports (% of merchandise imports) rose 4.33 percentage points on 2022 (from 22.13% to 26.46%). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2015 to 2022), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.54 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

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

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