World - Merchandise exports (current US$)

The value for Merchandise exports (current US$) in World was 17,705,800,000,000 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 19,654,800,000,000 in 2018 and a minimum value of 122,820,000,000 in 1960.

Definition: Merchandise exports show the f.o.b. value of goods provided to the rest of the world valued in current U.S. dollars.

Source: World Trade Organization.

See also:

Year Value
1960 122,820,000,000
1961 128,233,000,000
1962 133,931,000,000
1963 146,809,000,000
1964 165,019,000,000
1965 178,966,000,000
1966 195,894,000,000
1967 206,817,000,000
1968 229,950,000,000
1969 262,558,000,000
1970 301,912,000,000
1971 338,152,000,000
1972 400,202,000,000
1973 555,695,000,000
1974 815,265,000,000
1975 845,110,000,000
1976 956,922,000,000
1977 1,086,060,000,000
1978 1,258,990,000,000
1979 1,604,760,000,000
1980 1,973,490,000,000
1981 1,952,140,000,000
1982 1,808,560,000,000
1983 1,759,670,000,000
1984 1,876,110,000,000
1985 1,896,150,000,000
1986 2,067,440,000,000
1987 2,436,800,000,000
1988 2,795,220,000,000
1989 3,032,860,000,000
1990 3,462,450,000,000
1991 3,547,840,000,000
1992 3,804,570,000,000
1993 3,811,140,000,000
1994 4,344,920,000,000
1995 5,183,910,000,000
1996 5,433,330,000,000
1997 5,629,120,000,000
1998 5,528,700,000,000
1999 5,749,010,000,000
2000 6,487,130,000,000
2001 6,227,430,000,000
2002 6,533,840,000,000
2003 7,630,340,000,000
2004 9,270,820,000,000
2005 10,564,700,000,000
2006 12,193,200,000,000
2007 14,103,500,000,000
2008 16,252,600,000,000
2009 12,628,800,000,000
2010 15,381,900,000,000
2011 18,436,500,000,000
2012 18,607,600,000,000
2013 19,062,700,000,000
2014 19,100,800,000,000
2015 16,640,700,000,000
2016 16,124,200,000,000
2017 17,833,200,000,000
2018 19,654,800,000,000
2019 19,111,900,000,000
2020 17,705,800,000,000

Limitations and Exceptions: Exports are recorded as the cost of the goods delivered to the frontier of the exporting country for shipment - the free on board (f.o.b.) value. Countries may report trade according to the general or special system of trade. Under the general system exports comprise outward-moving goods that are (a) goods wholly or partly produced in the country; (b) foreign goods, neither transformed nor declared for domestic consumption in the country, that move outward from customs storage; and (c) goods previously included as imports for domestic consumption but subsequently exported without transformation. Under the special system exports comprise categories a and c. In some compilations categories b and c are classified as re-exports. Because of differences in reporting practices, data on exports may not be fully comparable across economies. Data on exports of goods are derived from the same sources as data on imports. In principle, world exports and imports should be identical. Similarly, exports from an economy should equal the sum of imports by the rest of the world from that economy. But differences in timing and definitions result in discrepancies in reported values at all levels.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Merchandise trade data are from customs reports of goods moving into or out of an economy or from reports of financial transactions related to merchandise trade recorded in the balance of payments. Because of differences in timing and definitions, trade flow estimates from customs reports and balance of payments may differ. Several international agencies process trade data, each correcting unreported or misreported data, leading to other differences. The data on total exports of goods (merchandise) are from the World Trade Organization (WTO), which obtains data from national statistical offices and the IMF's International Financial Statistics, supplemented by the Comtrade database and publications or databases of regional organizations, specialized agencies, economic groups, and private sources (such as Eurostat, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and country reports of the Economist Intelligence Unit). Country websites and email contact have improved collection of up-to-date statistics, reducing the proportion of estimates. The WTO database now covers most major traders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which together with high-income countries account for nearly 95 percent of world trade. Reliability of data for countries in Europe and Central Asia has also improved.

Aggregation method: Gap-filled total

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Private Sector & Trade Indicators

Sub-Topic: Exports