Zimbabwe: Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Zimbabwe's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports) rose 10.64 percentage points on 2022 (from 10.68% to 21.32%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 9.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 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 36.21 percentage points in 2003 and the biggest yearly fall was 27.87 percentage points in 2004. 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 1.75 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 57% 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, Zimbabwe had the 65th 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.

Closest to Zimbabwe in the 2023 ranking

• Kazakhstan — 61st of 201: 22.18%
• Türkiye — 62nd of 201: 21.99%
• South Africa — 63rd of 201: 21.55%
• Cuba — 65th of 201: 21.28%
• Korea, Dem. People's Rep. — 66th of 201: 20.66%
• Kenya — 67th of 201: 20.61%

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 46 values

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 Zimbabwe

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 38.7% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$10.11 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$9.71 billion (2025)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 139.8 (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 8.71% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 27.05% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise imports) — 64.24% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% 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 Zimbabwe's merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise exports)?

21.32% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1964?

It is up 20.34 percentage points from 0.98% in 1964. The highest value was 43% in 2003 and the lowest 0.08% in 2017.

How does Zimbabwe rank?

65th 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 Zimbabwe?

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.

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