Imports of goods and services (current US$)

Importing goods and services from abroad is simply purchasing it from abroad and using it domestically. Together with export, these two are the base for the globalized trading system, where countries sell the excess of their products and services while purchasing the ones they need more from others.

Which countries prevail in the import of goods and services from abroad?

The two most powerful countries in terms of economy are at the same time the biggest importers in the world. The United States takes more than $3.1 trillion worth of goods and services abroad, being largely the biggest importer at this moment. The Chinese are significantly worse in importing than the Americans, because they import “only” $2.5 trillion, which is still incredibly large when we compare other options.

The third position goes to Germany, which is importing up to $1.6 trillion. Far behind the Germans are the British who recently left the European community. They imported merchandise that is worth around $920 billion. However, the latest data do not concern the post Brexit events.

Let's not forget about other places at our standings, namely Japan and France, which are 5th and 6th in the ranking of importers. They imported the goods and services for respectively $906 billion and $890 billion.

How much of the GDP does the top countries import?

If we take Gross Domestic Product value into consideration, then we can notice significant differences at the top of the ranking. The United States is importing only 15% of their GDP, which is one of the lowest trading ratios if we take into account GDP out of all countries. The lowest numbers come only from such nations as Sudan, Turkmenistan and Cuba. It is a great depiction of how insignificant the number of imported goods and services to the USA really is.

The second position on the ranking, namely China, is another country that doesn’t need much. They take merchandise for approximately 17% of their GDP. Another country that is high at import numbers but low at the percentage is Japan, which receives the imports for only 18% of their GDP.

Completely different situation is with the European countries, which are small and cannot guarantee all the natural resources the others have. For example, the Germans and the French import for 30% of their Gross Domestic Product value. The British; however, take goods and services for 40% of their GDP.

It is still not as large as some other countries in the ranking. For example, Hong Kong SAR in China is the region that relies the most on import because it takes 175% of their GDP. Luxembourg takes second place because they require goods and services that are worth 172% of their gross domestic product index. Singapore closes the ranking with 145% worth of import.