External balance on goods and services (% of GDP)

If you want to find out which country earned or lost on trade with foreigners, then the best way to do it is to compare the value of export and import, and then see the difference. If the export was larger, then the country has earned on trade. If; however, the import was larger, then we are dealing with negative external balance.

Obviously, the numbers themselves may not represent the real balance between one country and another. For example, hundreds of millions may be quite a lot for small countries such as Oman or Puerto Rico. However, the same number for such giants as China or the United States make slight or no difference at all. This is why it is a good idea to look at external balance on goods and services based on the % of GDP of a given country.

The most significant earnings - which countries?

If we take into account the total GDP of a country, then we can notice that the first three regions that earned the most are Macao SAR in China, Luxembourg, and, surprisingly, Gabon. The presented data come from information collected in 2019.

Macao SAR, an administrative region with completely different regulations and laws, had a positive balance equal to 50% of the total GDP. In numbers, it was $27 billion. Luxembourg, the second position in our ranking, had earnings at around 36%, which was $25.5 billion. Interestingly, Gabon earned approximately $5 billion, but due to its small GDP, it was 29%.

What about the biggest losers?

In 2019, Somalia lost $4.3 billion, which was -88% of their total GDP. The second place belongs to Liberia with the loss of -70% of their total GDP. It was around $2 billion. Nauru is closing the ranking with the balance of -60%. Interestingly, it was “only” $70 million.