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Internationalization Indicators

List of Tables and Charts on Trade

• Exports and Imports for 2003 or the latest year
• Exports and Imports (goods and services break up) for 2002
• Chart: Exports and Imports compared
• Trade Data for 2001 and 2000 (UNCTAD)
• 1997 Exports, Imports and related information
• Balance of Trade in US$ billion for years 1996, 1997, 1998
• Trade GDP ratios for years 1997 and 1999
• Chart: Trade GDP Ratio for year 1997

Trade Data summary: latest available figures

Data relating to trade in goods and services correspond to each country’s exports to, and imports from, the rest of the world. These data are collected to compile the balance of payments. The most frequently used indicator of the importance of international transactions relative to domestic transactions is the trade-to-GDP ratio, which is the average share of exports and imports of goods and services in GDP.

International trade tends to be more important for countries that are small (in terms of size or population) and surrounded by neighbouring countries with open trade regimes than for large, relatively self-sufficient countries or those that are geographically isolated and thus penalised by high transport costs. Other factors also play a role and help explain differences in trade-to-GDP ratios across countries, such as history, culture, (trade) policy, the structure of the economy (especially the weight of non-tradable services in GDP), re-exports and the presence of multinational firms (intra-firm trade).