Trade Openness by Country (2024)

Global Trade Integration

Trade openness measures how integrated a country is with the global economy. Small, open economies like Singapore (trade exceeding 300% of GDP), Luxembourg, and Hong Kong are extremely trade-dependent — their domestic markets are too small to sustain the variety of production their economies support. Large economies like the United States (about 25% of GDP), China (about 37%), and Japan (about 35%) appear less open in percentage terms, but their absolute trade volumes are the largest in the world.

The relationship between trade openness and growth is well-established: countries that liberalized trade while investing in education, infrastructure, and institutional quality — East Asia, Eastern Europe — benefited enormously. The correlation between openness and income is strong at the country level, though causality runs in both directions. Wealthier countries attract more trade, and more trade generates more wealth through specialization and economies of scale.

The defining shift in global trade in 2024 is the reshaping of patterns under the Trump administration's April 2026 tariff regime — widely called "Liberation Day." Tariffs of 10% on most countries and 145% on China are accelerating the "friend-shoring" trend: manufacturers are routing supply chains through tariff-exempt allies, particularly under USMCA. Mexico and Canada, shielded by the trade agreement, have seen increased US-bound manufacturing investment. India, partially insulated by its February 2026 bilateral trade deal, is absorbing pharmaceutical and electronics production. The WTO projects global merchandise trade volume growth to slow from 3% to below 2% in 2026 as a direct result. Countries with trade openness above 100% of GDP — Vietnam, Singapore, Netherlands — face the sharpest adjustment as global value chains fragment.