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Which Countries Rely Most on International Trade?

Some countries rely heavily on international trade, importing goods they cannot easily produce at home or exporting products and services that sustain major industries. In some cases, their combined exports and imports are worth several times their annual economic output.

Others, including the U.S. and China, trade trillions of dollars annually but have much lower trade-to-GDP ratios, partly because of their large domestic markets.

This graphic shows the 20 most and least trade-dependent countries using data from the World Bank. Trade is measured as exports and imports of goods and services as a share of GDP.

Most figures are for 2025, with data from 2022 to 2024 for some countries. Territories such as Hong Kong are excluded.

Small Countries Are the Most Dependent on Trade

Sixteen of the 20 most trade-dependent countries have fewer than 10 million people, and half have fewer than 2 million.

Smaller economies often cannot produce everything their households and businesses need, so they rely on imports and exports. Many also serve larger neighboring markets as financial centers, ports, or transit hubs.

Trade can exceed GDP because exports and imports are counted at their full value, while GDP measures only the value an economy adds. The table below ranks all 170 countries by trade as a share of GDP:

Rank	Country	Trade (% of GDP)
1	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	349.9
2	🇸🇲 San Marino	341.0
3	🇸🇬 Singapore	320.3
4	🇮🇪 Ireland	240.0
5	🇲🇹 Malta	219.0
6	🇩🇯 Djibouti	206.3
7	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	199.0
8	🇻🇳 Vietnam	190.3
9	🇨🇾 Cyprus	189.5
10	🇸🇨 Seychelles	172.3
11	🇸🇰 Slovakia	170.3
12	🇳🇷 Nauru	165.4
13	🇧🇭 Bahrain	157.5
14	🇲🇻 Maldives	156.5
15	🇪🇪 Estonia	155.8
16	🇱🇸 Lesotho	154.0
17	🇧🇪 Belgium	152.9
18	🇸🇮 Slovenia	151.9
19	🇳🇱 Netherlands	150.1
20	🇨🇭 Switzerland	147.2
21	🇱🇹 Lithuania	142.1
22	🇭🇺 Hungary	140.8
23	🇲🇺 Mauritius	139.9
24	🇹🇭 Thailand	138.4
25	🇱🇾 Libya	137.7
26	🇲🇾 Malaysia	136.4
27	🇰🇭 Cambodia	136.1
28	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	133.0
29	🇲🇳 Mongolia	130.7
30	🇱🇻 Latvia	129.7
31	🇩🇰 Denmark	129.2
32	🇸🇴 Somalia	128.1
33	🇨🇿 Czechia	128.0
34	🇨🇺 Cuba	124.9
35	🇧🇳 Brunei	123.6
36	🇫🇯 Fiji	119.0
37	🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda	118.3
38	🇽🇰 Kosovo	118.2
39	🇲🇭 Marshall Islands	115.9
40	🇴🇲 Oman	114.9
41	🇷🇸 Serbia	112.9
42	🇧🇾 Belarus	112.1
43	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	111.4
44	🇧🇿 Belize	109.0
45	🇳🇦 Namibia	108.6
46	🇸🇿 Eswatini	107.5
47	🇦🇹 Austria	107.0
48	🇲🇪 Montenegro	105.8
49	🇵🇼 Palau	105.8
50	🇸🇪 Sweden	104.3
51	🇬🇳 Guinea	103.7
52	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	102.5
53	🇰🇮 Kiribati	102.1
54	🇦🇲 Armenia	101.7
55	🇹🇳 Tunisia	101.4
56	🇭🇷 Croatia	101.0
57	🇬🇪 Georgia	100.6
58	🇶🇦 Qatar	100.2
59	🇲🇿 Mozambique	97.1
60	🇵🇱 Poland	97.0
61	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	96.4
62	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	95.4
63	🇨🇻 Cabo Verde	95.3
64	🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	95.1
65	🇰🇼 Kuwait	94.0
66	🇲🇷 Mauritania	94.0
67	🇫🇲 Micronesia	93.1
68	🇲🇦 Morocco	93.1
69	🇲🇩 Moldova	92.7
70	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	92.4
71	🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo	91.7
72	🇭🇳 Honduras	91.5
73	🇸🇻 El Salvador	88.2
74	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	87.3
75	🇵🇹 Portugal	86.4
76	🇰🇷 South Korea	86.4
77	🇬🇦 Gabon	84.9
78	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	83.8
79	🇵🇦 Panama	83.7
80	🇬🇷 Greece	83.5
81	🇫🇮 Finland	83.4
82	🇮🇸 Iceland	82.5
83	🇱🇧 Lebanon	82.2
84	🇲🇽 Mexico	79.9
85	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	79.8
86	🇦🇱 Albania	79.5
87	🇧🇹 Bhutan	79.4
88	🇧🇸 Bahamas	79.2
89	🇳🇴 Norway	79.1
90	🇩🇪 Germany	78.5
91	🇹🇴 Tonga	77.6
92	🇺🇦 Ukraine	77.2
93	🇮🇶 Iraq	77.1
94	🇵🇾 Paraguay	76.5
95	🇷🇴 Romania	76.2
96	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	74.9
97	🇵🇸 West Bank and Gaza	74.8
98	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	73.4
99	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	71.5
100	🇸🇳 Senegal	71.1
101	🇼🇸 Samoa	70.6
102	🇧🇼 Botswana	69.5
103	🇪🇸 Spain	69.5
104	🇬🇭 Ghana	69.0
105	🇫🇷 France	67.2
106	🇵🇭 Philippines	66.8
107	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	65.0
108	🇨🇱 Chile	65.0
109	🇨🇦 Canada	63.5
110	🇮🇹 Italy	62.5
111	🇬🇧 U.K.	62.5
112	🇿🇲 Zambia	62.5
113	🇬🇲 Gambia	62.2
114	🇿🇦 South Africa	60.9
115	🇮🇷 Iran	60.2
116	🇹🇬 Togo	59.9
117	🇪🇨 Ecuador	59.4
118	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	59.1
119	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	57.9
120	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	57.4
121	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	57.2
122	🇷🇼 Rwanda	56.7
123	🇨🇮 Cote d'Ivoire	54.6
124	🇲🇬 Madagascar	54.2
125	🇮🇱 Israel	53.0
126	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	52.9
127	🇵🇪 Peru	51.8
128	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	51.5
129	🇪🇬 Egypt	51.3
130	🇳🇿 New Zealand	50.7
131	🇺🇬 Uganda	50.2
132	🇹🇷 Türkiye	49.9
133	🇺🇾 Uruguay	49.7
134	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	49.1
135	🇲🇱 Mali	48.8
136	🇧🇴 Bolivia	47.0
137	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	46.6
138	🇬🇹 Guatemala	46.5
139	🇮🇳 India	46.3
140	🇹🇩 Chad	46.1
141	🇦🇺 Australia	45.9
142	🇯🇵 Japan	44.9
143	🇮🇩 Indonesia	43.4
144	🇳🇵 Nepal	42.6
145	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	41.8
146	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	41.5
147	🇰🇲 Comoros	40.9
148	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	40.9
149	🇲🇼 Malawi	39.4
150	🇩🇿 Algeria	39.0
151	🇹🇿 Tanzania	39.0
152	🇨🇳 China	38.0
153	🇰🇪 Kenya	37.5
154	🇧🇯 Benin	37.1
155	🇨🇴 Colombia	35.4
156	🇸🇾 Syria	35.4
157	🇧🇷 Brazil	35.3
158	🇦🇴 Angola	34.6
159	🇳🇪 Niger	33.9
160	🇷🇺 Russia	33.7
161	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	33.5
162	🇨🇲 Cameroon	33.4
163	🇦🇷 Argentina	30.4
164	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	28.2
165	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	28.0
166	🇵🇰 Pakistan	27.2
167	🇺🇸 U.S.	25.0
168	🇻🇪 Venezuela	25.0
169	🇭🇹 Haiti	15.9
170	🇸🇩 Sudan	2.4

Across the full ranking, 58 countries trade more than their GDP, while the median country trades about 80%. Europe accounts for 11 of the top 20, ranging from microstates like San Marino to countries like Belgium and the Netherlands, home of two of Europe’s busiest ports.

The reasons for high trade dependence vary. Luxembourg’s exports are dominated by services, particularly financial services linked to its investment fund industry, according to STATEC. In Singapore, re-exports accounted for about 62% of merchandise exports in 2025, according to Singapore’s Department of Statistics.

Djibouti offers another example. Its trade equals 206% of GDP, compared with just 33% for neighboring Ethiopia. Landlocked Ethiopia routed more than 95% of its seaborne trade through Djibouti in early 2024, making ports and logistics a major part of Djibouti’s economy.

U.S. and China Have Low Dependence Despite Their Trade Scale

The U.S. is one of the biggest surprises in the ranking. Despite being the world’s largest economy, its exports and imports equaled just 25% of GDP in 2024, the fourth-lowest ratio among 170 countries.

Only Sudan (2.4%), Haiti (16%), and Venezuela (25%) ranked lower. All three have experienced severe economic disruptions, including civil war in Sudan, gang violence in Haiti, and sanctions and a collapse in oil output in Venezuela.

China, the world’s largest goods exporter, also ranks near the bottom, placing 19th from the bottom at 38% in 2025.

A low ratio can still mean trillions of dollars crossing borders. U.S. exports and imports totaled about $7.3 trillion in 2024, while China’s reached about $7.4 trillion in 2025, each roughly 20 times Luxembourg’s total.

Large domestic markets allow more business to take place between producers and customers within the same country, without contributing to cross-border trade totals.

None of the world’s 10 largest economies trades more than 80% of its GDP, the median across the dataset. Germany comes closest at 79%, while Japan (45%) and India (46%) sit well below it.

Vietnam is a striking exception to the pattern among large economies. With more than 100 million people, it ranks eighth globally at 190% of GDP, well ahead of Thailand (138%), the next-highest country with more than 50 million people.

Trade with the U.S. alone equaled 44% of Vietnam’s GDP in 2025, making it one of the economies most exposed to American consumer demand.

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