Major economies heavily dependent on imports: EU, Mexico, South Korea

Globally, $24.7 trillion worth of goods were imported in 2024, with some countries relying more on foreign purchases than others, according to an analysis by visualcapitalist.com, which, using 2024 data from the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, highlights the value of imported goods as a share of GDP in the world's major economies.

Import dependence is determined by several factors, including a lack of natural resources, production capacity and cost differences. Mexico, for example, has a high need for imports, given its dependence on the US for agricultural goods and auto parts. At the same time, imports from South Korea are fueled by the need for food and energy.

According to the cited source, in the European Union, imported goods represent 35% of GDP, given the bloc's dependence on energy purchased from Norway and America. At the same time, the Union imports a significant volume of electronics from China, its largest import partner, covering 20.1% of the total share.

Mexico also relies on imports for 35% of its GDP, and South Korea for 34%. In the case of Canada, the figure is 26%, with the country buying mainly motor vehicles and parts, machinery and electronics from abroad. In particular, the US provides about half of these imports, while China exports about 11% to Canada. Since the 1960s, trade in the automotive sector between the US and Canada has been deeply interconnected, with some parts crossing the border seven times, according to the cited source.

In the case of Great Britain, the share of imports is 23% of GDP, and in Japan, 18%. China follows, with a share of imports in its GDP of 14%, respectively, the US, with 12%. China is more import-dependent than America, the cited source notes, recalling that the most important suppliers for the Asian country in 2023 were South Korea (7.4%), the US (7%) and Japan (6.3%). For comparison, Canada and Mexico together provided 28.8% of US imports, dominated by crude oil and automobiles.