Share of imports in gross domestic product (GDP) in China 2000-2023
Import development in China
Trade is essential to modern economies. The imports-to-GDP ratio measures a country’s openness to inward trade. One similar indicator is the trade-to-GDP-ratio, which is the sum of exports and imports divided by GDP. It is used to measure a country’s integration in the world economy.As of 2022, China was the second largest merchandise importing nation worldwide, representing 10.6 percent of all global imports of goods. China’s imports of goods had nearly doubled over the last decade. In 2010, the import value stood at around 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars, whereas in 2022, China brought forth approximately 2.7 trillion U.S. dollars worth of imported commodities, its main import goods being integrated circuits, crude oil, and iron ore. Meanwhile, the monetary value of services imported to China, although much lower than merchandise imports, also soared from around 192 billion U.S. dollars in 2010 to 461 billion dollars in 2022.