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Top ranks in world merchandise trade are mostly the turf of the industrialized countries. Amongst the top 10, Germany, China, United States and Japan vastly outperform the others in terms of exporting performance (median of exports is 552, vertical orange line). In some cases, imports exceed exports (median of imports is 617, horizontal orange line), causing a merchandise trade deficit, like in the UK, France and Italy. The US deficit is out of scale, reaching an abyssal 858 billion US$, roughly the equivalent of the GDP of Belgium and Switzerland together.
Top 10 exporters and importers in world merchandise trade, 2007 | |||
Country |
Exports |
Imports |
Balance |
| (Billion US$) | |||
| Germany | 1,326 | 1,059 | 268 |
| China | 1,218 | 956 | 262 |
| United States | 1,162 | 2,020 | (858) |
| Japan | 713 | 621 | 92 |
| France | 553 | 615 | (62) |
| Netherlands | 551 | 492 | 60 |
| Italy | 492 | 504 | (13) |
| United Kingdom | 438 | 620 | (182) |
| Belgium | 431 | 413 | 18 |
| Canada | 419 | 390 | 29 |
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Sources: see WTO