Imports (share of GDP) over time (1970–2024)

Follow imports (share of GDP) for the world’s countries, year by year, from 1970 to 2024.

• The country ranked first changed over time: Singapore in 1970–2001, Timor-Leste in 2002, Singapore in 2003–2012, Djibouti in 2013, Singapore in 2014, Luxembourg in 2015–2024.
• Japan’s imports (share of GDP) went from 8.8% in 1970 to 22.9% in 2024 (up 14 points).
• Japan ranked #87 of 94 countries in 1970 and #138 of 162 in 2024. The number of countries differs between the years, so the ranks are not directly comparable.

Japan and countries at the top, middle and bottom

Key years for Japan and countries at the top, middle and bottom of the 2024 ranking

Country	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2020	2024
Luxembourg	71.0%	83.7%	88.1%	124.8%	131.0%	171.1%	159.7%
Belarus	–	–	43.6%	72.4%	64.5%	57.9%	65.1%
Botswana	60.9%	66.4%	49.8%	40.1%	52.5%	49.1%	42.4%
Mali	18.2%	19.2%	25.5%	26.4%	29.6%	30.9%	27.4%
Japan	8.8%	13.5%	9.1%	9.0%	13.5%	15.4%	22.9%
Sudan	16.4%	23.2%	7.1%	13.4%	15.3%	4.8%	1.3%
Countries with data	94	115	136	157	163	168	162

Biggest changes, 1970–2024

Compared among the countries that have data in both 1970 and 2024. Countries with a very small starting value are left out, because their ratios look exaggerated.

Biggest increases

Country	1970	2024	Change	Rank
Luxembourg	71.0%	159.7%	up 88.7 points	#3 → #1
Somalia	15.5%	99.1%	up 83.6 points	#75 → #8
Ireland	41.3%	102.2%	up 60.9 points	#14 → #6
Lesotho	48.9%	103.1%	up 54.2 points	#9 → #5
Thailand	19.4%	66.1%	up 46.7 points	#60 → #38

Biggest decreases

Country	1970	2024	Change	Rank
Panama	61.6%	39.3%	down 22.3 points	#4 → #90
Botswana	60.9%	42.4%	down 18.5 points	#5 → #82
Republic of the Congo	57.8%	40.4%	down 17.4 points	#6 → #86
Sudan	16.4%	1.3%	down 15.1 points	#69 → #162
Israel	37.8%	26.0%	down 11.8 points	#21 → #126

The number of countries differs between the years, so the ranks are not directly comparable.

All countries in key years

Open the table (countries with data)

Key years for Japan and the leading countries in 2024

Country	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2020	2024
Luxembourg	71.0%	83.7%	88.1%	124.8%	131.0%	171.1%	159.7%
Singapore	145.0%	208.9%	167.1%	176.0%	171.7%	149.9%	138.6%
Djibouti	–	–	–	–	–	108.6%	114.8%
Nauru	–	–	–	–	48.1%	91.4%	107.0%
Lesotho	48.9%	110.1%	–	–	108.0%	96.6%	103.1%
Ireland	41.3%	57.9%	50.3%	80.6%	86.8%	119.0%	102.2%
Malta	71.4%	86.4%	88.7%	99.3%	88.6%	112.4%	99.2%
Somalia	15.5%	88.6%	33.6%	–	–	62.0%	99.1%
Kiribati	–	57.7%	128.7%	83.3%	74.1%	68.0%	97.6%
Seychelles	–	63.0%	47.5%	77.0%	106.8%	86.9%	95.3%
Cyprus	–	63.1%	57.1%	67.5%	58.6%	81.0%	93.4%
Slovakia	–	–	32.9%	55.6%	78.0%	83.2%	85.7%
Timor-Leste	–	–	–	165.0%	125.8%	48.1%	84.9%
Vietnam	–	–	45.3%	57.5%	59.8%	78.9%	83.7%
Kyrgyzstan	–	–	49.5%	47.6%	81.7%	49.4%	83.3%
Cuba	44.2%	44.3%	40.9%	16.9%	17.7%	7.5%	82.4%
Marshall Islands	–	–	–	101.3%	108.7%	72.3%	81.1%
Belgium	42.8%	52.9%	59.9%	69.7%	74.3%	77.8%	79.7%
Mauritius	–	60.6%	71.2%	60.4%	61.2%	65.8%	78.3%
Maldives	–	–	–	–	–	66.1%	78.3%
Armenia	–	–	46.3%	50.1%	44.9%	40.0%	76.4%
Estonia	–	–	–	64.9%	68.6%	69.2%	75.4%
Slovenia	–	–	65.2%	54.2%	63.8%	69.3%	74.7%
North Macedonia	–	–	34.1%	47.2%	58.1%	70.5%	74.6%
Micronesia	–	–	–	73.6%	83.6%	71.1%	74.0%
Palau	–	–	–	–	76.7%	81.1%	73.1%
Cambodia	–	–	–	61.1%	59.8%	62.2%	72.1%
Hungary	–	–	–	70.5%	76.6%	76.4%	71.7%
Netherlands	43.0%	49.0%	49.3%	59.2%	60.8%	71.0%	71.5%
Solomon Islands	–	94.9%	96.1%	31.5%	61.0%	32.3%	70.8%
Bahrain	–	101.3%	83.2%	56.6%	48.9%	65.0%	70.0%
Mongolia	–	–	40.3%	67.9%	56.7%	55.2%	69.7%
Lithuania	–	–	–	44.7%	66.8%	63.4%	68.5%
Afghanistan	–	–	–	–	–	36.3%	68.1%
Namibia	–	56.3%	50.2%	44.4%	59.8%	43.2%	66.9%
Latvia	–	–	–	45.9%	56.5%	61.2%	66.4%
Montenegro	–	–	–	51.1%	62.2%	61.6%	66.2%
Thailand	19.4%	30.4%	41.7%	56.5%	60.8%	46.3%	66.1%
Malaysia	41.3%	55.0%	72.4%	100.6%	71.0%	55.2%	66.0%
Libya	–	–	31.1%	13.7%	31.8%	30.6%	65.8%
Belarus	–	–	43.6%	72.4%	64.5%	57.9%	65.1%
Fiji	–	51.9%	67.2%	70.5%	63.8%	46.7%	64.6%
Czechia	–	–	30.4%	49.7%	61.9%	61.0%	62.6%
Denmark	30.0%	33.1%	30.9%	38.2%	43.8%	49.4%	60.8%
Tonga	–	67.7%	65.1%	46.3%	58.3%	62.1%	60.7%
Switzerland	41.2%	48.2%	40.8%	46.5%	54.8%	57.9%	59.2%
Lebanon	–	–	99.9%	35.9%	60.1%	33.8%	58.9%
Brunei	–	5.3%	21.7%	30.1%	28.0%	52.9%	58.3%
Nicaragua	29.2%	43.3%	46.3%	41.2%	59.9%	46.9%	58.2%
Serbia	–	–	–	12.9%	42.7%	54.2%	58.1%
Honduras	39.8%	51.6%	46.9%	66.4%	63.7%	52.1%	57.7%
Moldova	–	–	–	76.6%	60.1%	51.4%	57.3%
Guinea	–	–	22.9%	19.9%	43.2%	68.8%	56.4%
Tunisia	24.7%	45.6%	50.6%	42.9%	52.2%	46.3%	56.3%
Georgia	–	–	45.4%	39.7%	49.2%	56.0%	55.6%
Croatia	–	–	–	39.5%	37.1%	48.3%	54.8%
Cape Verde	–	67.0%	68.8%	60.5%	55.3%	53.1%	54.2%
Bosnia & Herzegovina	–	–	–	63.5%	51.3%	47.9%	54.1%
Bulgaria	–	30.7%	36.7%	41.5%	53.3%	53.9%	53.9%
Belize	–	44.1%	38.6%	53.7%	44.2%	44.0%	53.7%
Eswatini	–	–	–	–	–	40.4%	53.7%
Austria	27.6%	35.3%	35.9%	42.3%	48.1%	48.3%	53.1%
El Salvador	24.5%	33.2%	31.1%	41.9%	46.6%	41.9%	53.0%
Mozambique	–	–	–	36.6%	44.5%	67.1%	52.8%
Mauritania	17.2%	46.0%	41.9%	33.4%	47.7%	45.4%	52.2%
Sweden	22.3%	28.6%	27.8%	38.2%	40.2%	40.2%	51.5%
Morocco	21.6%	28.0%	30.1%	29.2%	39.8%	38.0%	50.2%
Ukraine	–	–	28.7%	55.4%	49.3%	40.3%	50.0%
Samoa	–	–	–	–	50.9%	48.3%	48.9%
Oman	19.7%	37.7%	19.8%	28.5%	37.3%	44.8%	48.8%
Democratic Republic of the Congo	–	–	–	15.6%	44.3%	31.2%	48.6%
Poland	–	–	–	33.5%	42.3%	46.8%	48.2%
Vanuatu	–	39.1%	68.4%	48.0%	55.1%	51.8%	48.0%
Tajikistan	–	–	–	88.6%	58.6%	38.4%	47.9%
Bhutan	–	39.7%	33.3%	46.0%	65.6%	43.8%	47.9%
Greece	14.6%	24.2%	24.3%	35.1%	29.2%	38.8%	47.7%
Portugal	24.1%	32.8%	35.9%	39.2%	37.7%	39.3%	43.8%
Iceland	41.3%	33.9%	30.9%	38.5%	41.3%	34.5%	43.7%
Rwanda	18.0%	31.2%	16.6%	26.1%	26.9%	25.7%	43.3%
Albania	–	23.5%	24.0%	42.1%	47.9%	37.0%	43.2%
Senegal	23.3%	33.2%	27.7%	30.9%	32.5%	39.3%	42.8%
Botswana	60.9%	66.4%	49.8%	40.1%	52.5%	49.1%	42.4%
Romania	–	–	26.2%	26.9%	38.3%	41.4%	41.6%
Finland	25.5%	32.1%	23.7%	32.9%	37.0%	36.0%	41.5%
Bahamas	–	62.9%	56.0%	41.6%	43.7%	30.1%	41.5%
Republic of the Congo	57.8%	60.1%	19.0%	43.6%	55.5%	28.6%	40.4%
South Korea	20.9%	36.5%	25.0%	31.2%	42.8%	30.9%	40.3%
Philippines	–	–	23.5%	41.8%	33.2%	33.0%	40.1%
Paraguay	16.1%	20.0%	39.1%	35.3%	39.1%	29.5%	39.4%
Panama	61.6%	72.5%	64.3%	70.2%	75.4%	32.4%	39.3%
Kuwait	24.1%	34.3%	58.1%	30.1%	30.4%	38.3%	38.2%
Mexico	9.7%	12.3%	19.8%	25.7%	30.3%	37.6%	38.1%
Germany	16.5%	23.2%	22.9%	29.5%	34.4%	33.8%	37.7%
Iraq	20.2%	31.6%	7.4%	49.6%	34.1%	30.0%	37.4%
Azerbaijan	–	–	39.2%	38.4%	20.7%	36.4%	36.7%
Uzbekistan	–	–	–	19.4%	22.4%	32.3%	36.0%
France	16.0%	23.2%	22.6%	28.0%	28.8%	30.3%	34.2%
Ghana	22.7%	9.2%	25.9%	67.2%	45.9%	35.1%	33.9%
Madagascar	21.6%	19.6%	19.5%	23.7%	36.0%	28.9%	33.5%
Gambia	40.9%	63.6%	71.6%	30.6%	26.3%	37.8%	33.4%
Norway	36.1%	36.4%	33.0%	28.9%	27.5%	32.0%	33.2%
Spain	13.7%	17.3%	19.9%	31.5%	26.9%	29.0%	32.9%
Canada	19.6%	25.8%	24.9%	38.6%	31.0%	31.7%	32.7%
Nepal	8.3%	18.7%	21.7%	32.4%	36.4%	34.1%	32.6%
Costa Rica	34.6%	36.8%	41.1%	43.6%	34.7%	28.0%	32.3%
Comoros	–	26.9%	26.9%	26.9%	29.9%	28.1%	32.2%
Burkina Faso	16.1%	31.3%	24.5%	26.3%	28.6%	29.0%	31.9%
United Kingdom	21.0%	24.4%	24.9%	26.8%	30.3%	29.2%	31.8%
Central African Republic	41.6%	41.1%	25.9%	25.3%	22.8%	34.3%	31.4%
Guatemala	17.8%	24.9%	24.8%	29.0%	36.9%	24.8%	31.4%
Malawi	–	–	–	–	–	30.0%	30.6%
Italy	14.9%	22.7%	18.0%	24.7%	26.7%	25.2%	30.3%
Chile	13.8%	26.0%	29.0%	28.6%	31.8%	26.8%	30.2%
South Africa	21.4%	24.6%	16.7%	21.8%	24.6%	23.2%	29.9%
Equatorial Guinea	–	–	–	–	58.9%	37.1%	29.3%
Dominican Republic	27.9%	34.1%	38.6%	43.8%	33.3%	25.9%	29.0%
São Tomé & Príncipe	–	–	–	–	73.9%	38.1%	28.7%
Iran	21.2%	28.7%	23.8%	19.8%	19.4%	25.5%	28.5%
Guinea-Bissau	30.2%	41.8%	37.0%	39.6%	30.9%	27.4%	27.7%
Zambia	–	–	–	36.5%	30.9%	32.5%	27.6%
Gabon	38.0%	31.6%	30.9%	32.7%	31.5%	22.5%	27.5%
Mali	18.2%	19.2%	25.5%	26.4%	29.6%	30.9%	27.4%
Türkiye	6.4%	11.9%	17.6%	22.4%	25.4%	31.6%	27.0%
Saudi Arabia	21.6%	27.3%	31.4%	24.8%	33.0%	23.7%	27.0%
Ecuador	13.0%	17.9%	21.8%	27.9%	33.3%	20.7%	26.9%
Israel	37.8%	45.1%	33.0%	34.6%	32.1%	24.0%	26.0%
New Zealand	25.1%	29.9%	25.8%	32.8%	27.9%	22.2%	26.0%
Uganda	20.1%	26.0%	19.4%	22.1%	24.4%	21.6%	25.9%
Kazakhstan	–	–	–	49.1%	29.9%	26.5%	25.6%
Bolivia	24.4%	22.3%	23.9%	27.3%	34.3%	20.6%	25.5%
Côte d’Ivoire	29.1%	41.2%	27.1%	27.2%	34.0%	20.9%	25.2%
India	3.9%	9.2%	8.5%	13.9%	26.9%	19.1%	23.9%
Zimbabwe	–	26.5%	22.8%	35.9%	53.5%	16.8%	23.4%
Sierra Leone	29.3%	38.2%	34.0%	39.4%	18.1%	20.7%	23.3%
Egypt	17.1%	42.9%	32.6%	22.8%	26.6%	19.7%	23.2%
Uruguay	15.2%	20.6%	18.1%	20.0%	25.4%	21.5%	23.2%
Kenya	30.7%	35.9%	31.3%	31.7%	30.3%	19.0%	23.2%
Japan	8.8%	13.5%	9.1%	9.0%	13.5%	15.4%	22.9%
Peru	15.6%	22.1%	13.8%	18.8%	23.8%	21.2%	22.8%
Australia	13.2%	15.9%	17.0%	21.5%	20.7%	20.6%	22.5%
Sri Lanka	28.6%	54.8%	38.1%	49.6%	–	21.6%	22.4%
Benin	24.5%	37.3%	26.5%	26.7%	28.4%	25.0%	21.8%
Tanzania	–	–	25.8%	13.2%	28.0%	14.5%	21.6%
Indonesia	15.8%	22.2%	25.6%	30.5%	22.4%	15.6%	20.5%
Algeria	29.2%	30.3%	24.9%	20.8%	28.5%	24.9%	20.3%
Colombia	14.6%	15.6%	15.9%	16.8%	17.9%	20.5%	20.2%
Angola	–	–	–	–	37.1%	22.9%	19.0%
Cameroon	24.7%	27.1%	17.3%	23.1%	24.9%	18.5%	18.7%
Brazil	7.4%	11.2%	7.0%	12.5%	11.9%	15.8%	17.6%
Russia	–	–	17.9%	24.0%	21.1%	20.4%	17.6%
China	2.4%	11.4%	10.6%	18.3%	23.1%	16.1%	17.5%
Pakistan	10.3%	23.3%	20.2%	11.8%	19.4%	17.4%	17.2%
Chad	22.0%	28.9%	27.9%	34.7%	29.3%	19.4%	16.9%
Haiti	–	–	34.5%	19.8%	36.2%	29.8%	16.5%
Bangladesh	12.5%	17.9%	13.1%	17.0%	21.8%	15.8%	16.3%
Niger	18.1%	38.1%	20.5%	20.4%	35.8%	26.0%	15.4%
United States	5.2%	10.3%	10.6%	14.4%	15.9%	13.0%	14.0%
Argentina	4.7%	6.5%	4.6%	11.6%	16.0%	13.6%	12.7%
Ethiopia	–	–	–	–	–	16.9%	11.9%
Turkmenistan	–	–	–	48.3%	44.6%	13.0%	11.2%
Venezuela	18.8%	24.7%	19.5%	0.0%	0.0%	13.1%	9.5%
Sudan	16.4%	23.2%	7.1%	13.4%	15.3%	4.8%	1.3%
United Arab Emirates	–	–	–	–	58.0%	83.2%	–
Antigua & Barbuda	–	–	–	–	–	52.4%	–
Eritrea	–	–	–	58.2%	31.1%	–	–
Guyana	57.0%	93.6%	79.9%	110.7%	–	–	–
Jordan	–	85.3%	89.6%	68.5%	–	–	–
Laos	–	–	24.5%	38.2%	49.3%	–	–
Papua New Guinea	53.9%	53.3%	48.9%	49.2%	–	–	–
Qatar	–	26.1%	32.1%	22.3%	23.8%	40.9%	–
San Marino	–	–	–	–	–	140.4%	–
Suriname	–	–	–	–	38.4%	–	–
South Sudan	–	–	–	–	29.5%	–	–
Syria	21.1%	35.4%	28.0%	29.2%	31.8%	30.0%	–
Togo	30.5%	61.4%	33.5%	28.7%	39.1%	32.0%	–
Yemen	–	–	16.5%	34.0%	34.4%	–	–
Countries with data	94	115	136	157	163	168	162