World Countries by Merchandize Trade

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The ‘Trade Winds’ report produced by Oxford Economics on behalf of HSBC Bank, gives insight in the future global trends; “By 2050, the world will be on the cusp of a third wave of globalization, driven by more economic integration and digital technologies, resulting in quadrupling of merchandise trade and acceleration in services.”

The merchandise trade is the international transactions of goods that are tangible and movable. This differs from the international trade as the latter includes imports and exports of both goods and services. The World Trade Organization, anticipates the world merchandise trade volume growth, of 4.4%, as a measure of the average of exports and imports. In the face of a globalized economy, this expansion is also determined by the government fiscal, monetary and trade policies.

The cyclic factors of investment and consumption have resulted in an exceptional surge during the six years leading up to 2017. Contributing elements to the balance of trade are: factors of production, trade policy, exchange rates, foreign currency reserves, inflation and demand. Factors such as land, labor & capital, and the difference in availability in a country defines trade patterns. Whereas barriers to trade and restrictive trade policies affect the relative price of the merchandise.

The appreciation of currency can hurt exports, thus negatively impacting exports of a nation. Additionally, in order to produce globally competitive products, a country should have enough Forex reserves to afford the leading technologies. Hence these factors shape the global trade of merchandise positively or negatively.

The Balance of Trade is a key indicator of an economy’s health. The varying impacts of international merchandise trade on the global economy are the opening of global markets to the consumers offering price and product options on one hand and efficient production leading to specialization to the producers on the other. The economies thus have a comparative advantage: each country specializes in producing what they are more efficient in producing.

The world’s top traded merchandise includes crude oil, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, iron ore and smartphones. Countries like Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Singapore account for the highest merchandise trade. Luxembourg, a landlocked western European nation surrounded by economic powerhouses, is a leading exporter of machinery, iron and steel and plastic articles. This has fostered the economic growth in this nation. In case of Hong Kong, the recovery from the global economic crisis and trade supporting services from Chinese mainland, has hiked the offshore sale of goods.

Countries like Nigeria, Brazil and Pakistan, on the other hand, account for the lowest share of merchandise trade (% of GDP). Nigeria shows an increase in the merchandise trade in the fourth quarter of 2017, but is still the lowest trading economy. In case of Pakistan, the country’s trade deficit hit an ever low in 2017. A decline in exports accompanied with inefficient policies of import substitution led the country into a lower trading practice.

Below lying table depicts the countries and their share of merchandise trade (% of GDP)-:

Country Name	2016 (Merchandise Trade % of GDP)		Country Name	2016 (Merchandise Trade % of GDP)
Luxembourg	407.43		Sierra Leone	79.42
Hong Kong	371.71		Samoa	79.19
Singapore	310.26		Portugal	79.14
Malta	261.52		Fiji	77.99
Ireland	221.16		Malawi	77.91
Slovakia	185.75		South Korea	77.71
Vietnam	184.69		Somalia	77.35
United Arab Emirates	176.75		Oman	76.81
Hungary	168.99		Jamaica	76.30
Belgium	164.54		Mexico	76.22
American Samoa	158.51		Armenia	75.92
Estonia	154.10		Laos	75.09
Netherlands	153.89		Albania	74.67
Czech Republic	151.60		Palestinian	74.54
Nauru	150.55		Kosovo	74.20
Maldives	150.27		Zambia	73.96
Lithuania	147.61		Bahamas	73.49
Slovenia	146.15		Iraq	73.42
Northern Mariana Islands	145.49		Haiti	73.34
Bahrain	139.55		Senegal	72.91
Republic of the Congo	136.52		Finland	72.81
Cyprus	130.20		Lebanon	72.61
Malaysia	128.64		El Salvador	71.96
Cambodia	126.95		Benin	71.31
Palau	126.21		Gabon	71.16
Lesotho	125.38		Guam	70.57
Belarus	125.21		Madagascar	69.26
Bulgaria	123.64		Chad	67.86
Central Europe and the Baltics	123.60		Norway	67.41
Liberia	121.69		Philippines	64.90
Thailand	121.66		Gambia, The	64.88
Switzerland	120.40		Costa Rica	64.76
Latvia	119.19		Canada	64.35
South Sudan	116.70		Zimbabwe	63.33
Macedonia	114.68		Spain	62.88
Moldova	114.60		Mali	62.41
St. Kitts and Nevis	113.51		Burkina Faso	62.02
Marshall Islands	111.45		Saudi Arabia	61.86
Guinea	110.97		Greece	61.64
Mozambique	110.82		France	61.13
Macao	110.59		South Africa	60.79
Belize	110.20		Kazakhstan	60.31
Puerto Rico	109.66		Comoros	59.69
Grenada	108.47		Democratic Republic of the Congo	59.59
Serbia	107.50		Angola	59.43
Kiribati	106.71		United Kingdom	58.58
Kyrgyzstan	105.82		Israel	58.45
Togo	105.63		Guinea-Bissau	57.81
Namibia	105.10		Bolivia	56.40
Ukraine	104.81		Italy	56.35
Suriname	104.10		Algeria	56.27
Montenegro	103.38		Tajikistan	56.05
Georgia	102.93		Afghanistan	55.92
Dominica	102.33		Dominican Republic	53.84
Swaziland	102.20		Sub-Saharan Africa	52.58
Austria	101.17		New Zealand	51.32
Denmark	100.97		Sri Lanka	50.01
Mauritania	100.53		Cote d’Ivoire	49.52
Honduras	100.49		Niger	49.37
Poland	100.47		Nepal	48.88
Guyana	100.33		Rwanda	48.03
Federated States of Micronesia	99.02		Uganda	47.22
Mauritius	98.43		Guatemala	47.00
Cabo Verde	97.96	Turkey	46.82
Botswana	97.13	Russia	46.23
Mongolia	95.64	Peru	45.25
Croatia	95.21	Iran	43.21
Nicaragua	95.10	Central African Republic	42.75
Kuwait	94.66	Tanzania	42.33
Equatorial Guinea	92.50	Cameroon	42.00
Tunisia	91.44	Uruguay	41.31
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	91.34	Australia	40.77
Jordan	91.32	India	40.35
Iceland	90.42	Uzbekistan	39.62
Azerbaijan	90.08	Timor-Leste	39.28
Tonga	89.43	Myanmar	39.06
Ghana	89.34	Ecuador	38.83
Qatar	89.11	Burundi	38.16
Antigua and Barbuda	88.73	Bangladesh	37.95
Bosnia and Herzegovina	87.70	Indonesia	37.44
Brunei Darussalam	87.32	China	37.03
Panama	87.28	Kenya	36.75
Pacific island small states	85.77	Colombia	36.47
Greenland	84.92	Ethiopia	35.51
Djibouti	84.65	Yemen	33.53
Euro area	84.27	Japan	31.27
Germany	84.27	Egypt	30.02
Sweden	83.71	North America	30.01
Romania	83.57	United States of America	26.58
European Union	82.87	Argentina	26.12
Bhutan	82.81	Pakistan	25.31
Barbados	82.62	Brazil	24.57
Arab World	81.96	Sudan	22.36
Paraguay	81.27	Nigeria	20.72
Morocco	80.42

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