Data for 1972

Trade (% of GDP), 1972

Name: Trade (% of GDP), 1972
Creator: World Bank Group
License: https://data.worldbank.org/summary-terms-of-use

1972, as World Bank Group’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Trade (% of GDP), 1972 covers 98 countries. Singapore is highest, at 229.053; China is lowest, at 5.667. The middle country reads 44.793. Against 1971, 97 values changed (48 up, 49 down), 1 country joined.

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Trade (% of GDP) · Data for 1972

HighestSingapore

229.053

LowestChina

5.667

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

98countries
1measure
1972the year it describes
98distinct values14 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Trade (% of GDP), 1972, as published. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 98 countries · select a heading to sort

Trade (% of GDP), 1972: every country, as published by World Bank Group.
derived
1	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	229.053
2	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	160.833
3	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	155.730
4	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	145.345
5	Guyana`GUY`South America	116.236
6	Panama`PAN`Central America	115.024
7	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	113.985
8	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	103.249
9	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	103.125
10	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	97.915
11	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	89.262
12	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	85.214
13	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	85.209
14	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	82.759
15	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	80.300
16	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	80.097
17	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	79.856
18	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	79.459
19	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	78.114
20	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	76.809
21	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	75.581
22	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	74.529
23	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	73.376
24	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	72.212
25	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	68.474
26	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	67.629
27	Honduras`HND`Central America	67.482
28	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	67.370
29	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	66.832
30	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	64.931
31	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	62.519
32	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	58.748
33	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	58.408
34	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	57.222
35	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	56.806
36	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	55.984
37	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	55.315
38	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	54.510
39	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	54.224
40	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	53.225
41	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	50.089
42	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	47.786
43	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	46.478
44	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	46.232
45	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	46.225
46	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	46.176
47	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	45.920
48	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	45.859
49	Bolivia`BOL`South America	45.132
50	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	44.453
51	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	43.871
52	Venezuela`VEN`South America	43.269
53	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	42.659
54	Canada`CAN`Northern America	41.849
55	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	41.840
56	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	41.584
57	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	41.185
58	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	40.773
59	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	39.986
60	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	37.797
61	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	37.535
62	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	37.443
63	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	37.373
64	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	36.169
65	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	35.915
66	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	35.412
67	Niger`NER`Western Africa	34.708
68	France`FRA`Western Europe	33.969
69	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	33.949
70	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	33.778
71	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	32.686
72	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	32.586
73	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	31.750
74	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	30.616
75	Uruguay`URY`South America	30.330
76	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	30.085
77	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	29.599
78	Peru`PER`South America	28.147
79	Ecuador`ECU`South America	27.958
80	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	27.689
81	Paraguay`PRY`South America	27.606
82	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	27.251
83	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	27.214
84	Colombia`COL`South America	26.053
85	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	24.721
86	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	24.621
87	Chile`CHL`South America	22.300
88	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	19.407
89	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	17.393
90	Mexico`MEX`Central America	16.890
91	Brazil`BRA`South America	16.132
92	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	15.821
93	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	14.562
94	Argentina`ARG`South America	14.036
95	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	13.579
96	United States`USA`Northern America	11.341
97	India`IND`Southern Asia	7.736
98	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	5.667

02In 1972

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Singapore229.053
2Hong Kong160.833
3Luxembourg155.730
4Gabon145.345
5Guyana116.236

Lowest

98China5.667
97India7.736
96United States11.341
95Nepal13.579
94Argentina14.036

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 44.793. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031971 → 1972

Since 1971

What changed between 1971 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
97values changed, of 97 in both
48 · 49rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Gabon118.649 → 145.345+26.697
Mauritania48.877 → 72.212+23.335
Lesotho67.642 → 85.209+17.567
Nicaragua54.839 → 64.931+10.092
Uruguay21.718 → 30.330+8.613

Fell most

Singapore259.297 → 229.053−30.243
Hong Kong174.510 → 160.833−13.677
Luxembourg168.222 → 155.730−12.492
Iceland77.521 → 68.474−9.047
Kenya63.828 → 55.315−8.514

+ Kiribati

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from World Bank Group’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1972.
The position is ours
World Bank Group publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 98 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
98 rows · 4.2 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download trade-to-gdp-1972-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
World Bank Group’s own file, on its own site.
NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

World Bank Group (1972). Trade (% of GDP), 1972 [data set], describing 1972. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/trade-to-gdp/1972

0656 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Trade (% of GDP), 1971
97 countries
The year after ›
Trade (% of GDP), 1973
98 countries
All of them
Trade (% of GDP): every year
56 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions

Trade (% of GDP), 1972: questions and answers

Which country has the highest trade openness in Trade (% of GDP), 1972?

Singapore, at 229.053, of the 98 countries in the file.

What year does Trade (% of GDP), 1972 describe?

1972.

How many countries does Trade (% of GDP), 1972 cover?

98.

Where can I download Trade (% of GDP), 1972?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Trade (% of GDP), 1972 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Trade (% of GDP), 2025.

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