The Bank of America Merrill Lynch published this insightful world map which displays each country’s largest export market. The map does not cover exported services, but exported commodities and produced goods.
The trends in world trade are clear from the colour coding of each classification of export commodity. It is not surprising that most of the Middle East and North Africa are shaded dark blue for exporting oil. From just a glance at the map it would seem that a huge part of the world relies on oil for exports, and highlights the affects that volatility in this market has on the world.
It is not surprising either that countries in South East Asia, the USA and China export electronic goods, whilst Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal all trade heavily in textiles and apparel. However, India’s largest export market is precious stones, and not what you might expect of exporting mostly textiles or food and drink. Also, Afghanistan’s largest export is opium!
As to be expected, the majority of Europe’s biggest export market is machinery and transportation. Whilst the UK exports ‘manufactured goods’ – classified as machinery and transportation – most likely referring to the engineering equipment and machinery that the UK manufactures and exports.
Mercator is a UK based freight forwarder. We arrange shipping across the globe for all industries. Our services cover both UK imports and exports. Thanks to our founding membership of the global freight network MPL, we have partner agents located around the world, allowing us to offer a full import and export service. For a quote please call: +44 2392 756 575 or email sales@mercatorcargo.co.uk
