wits profiled
Herfindahl-Hirschman Market Concentration Index (Annual)
Annual export market concentration index measuring the dispersion of merchandise export value across destination trading partners for 200+ economies (1988–2023).
Figures are computed from official source data. Analytical commentary is AI-generated and has not been independently reviewed.
About this dataset
Measures Annual Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) measuring how concentrated a country's merchandise exports are across its destination trading partners. Formulated as the sum of squared partner shares (sum s_i^2), where an index close to 1 indicates extreme concentration in a single market, and values near 0 represent wide geographic diversification.
Basis Customs merchandise trade basis utilizing UN Comtrade mirror export statistics (CIF/FOB adjusted) across all partner countries (excluding World and regional aggregates).
Units Index score bounded between 0.0 and 1.0 (un-normalized Herfindahl-Hirschman Index). A score of 0.50 indicates that the sum of squared partner shares equals 0.50 (e.g., equivalent to shipping ~71% of exports to one partner and 0% elsewhere, or ~75% to one partner with minor remainder).
Disaggregated by
- Reporting economy (209 global countries and territories)
- Annual calendar period (1988–2023)
- Partner group (code 999: all partner economies)
- Product level (code 999999: total merchandise)
Not covered
- Merchandise (goods) only — excludes commercial services, intellectual property, and digital trade
- Product-level concentration is not included in this indicator (this measures market/partner dispersion, not commodity dispersion)
- Does not disaggregate by sub-national region (e.g. Canadian provinces)
- Does not adjust for re-exports or value-added origin (gross customs trade)
Measurement notes
- Mirror Exports: Export values are compiled by WITS using partner country import declarations (mirror flows) to enhance data consistency across reporters.
- Index Formula: $HHI_j = \sum_{i} (X_{ij} / X_j)^2$, where $X_{ij}$ is exports from country $j$ to partner $i$, and $X_j$ is total exports from country $j$.
- North American Gravity: Canada's score (~0.50) is mathematically dominated by the US share (~75% squared = 0.5625 adjusted for partner base), making Canada's index score over 90% an artifact of bilateral US integration.
- Break in 1991: Prior to 1991, partner reporting coverage in Comtrade for Canada and Mexico exhibits series discontinuities; reliable annual series begins in 1991.
| Column | Type | Non-null | Unique | Mean | Min | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ref_date | object | 100.0% | 36 | — | 1988 | 2023 |
| reporter_iso | object | 100.0% | 209 | — | ABW | ZWE |
| reporter_name | object | 100.0% | 209 | — | Afghanistan | Zimbabwe |
| is_group | bool | 100.0% | 2 | 0.0070 | 0.0000 | 1.0000 |
| indicator | object | 100.0% | 1 | — | HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX | HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX |
| indicator_name | object | 100.0% | 1 | — | HH Market concentration index | HH Market concentration index |
| partner | object | 100.0% | 1 | — | 999 | 999 |
| product | object | 100.0% | 1 | — | 999999 | 999999 |
| value | float64 | 100.0% | 5129 | 0.1649 | 0.0300 | 0.9919 |
dataset: WITS TradeStats - Trade (DF_WITS_TradeStats_Trade) · indicator: HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX · coverage: 209 global economies, 1988–2023, Annual Dataset-wide column summary statistics Dataset records the Herfindahl-Hirschman Market Concentration Index across export destination partners.
| Economy | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mexico | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| China | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Korea, Rep. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Africa |
economies: Canada, United States, Mexico, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, China, Australia, Korea, Rep., Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa · indicator: HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX Binary reporting indicator per country-year Shows unbroken annual data series for Canada (1989–2023) and OECD peers across the post-1990 era.
Observations
Canada Export Market Concentration (2023) 0.500 Herfindahl-Hirschman Index across export destination markets (0 = dispersed, 1 = single partner). Ranks #1 most concentrated among all G7 nations.
reporter: CAN · indicator: HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX · year: 2023 Single national index value Calculated by WITS using UN Comtrade mirror export data across all partner countries.
G7 Concentration Premium 9.4× G7 Peer Average Canada's concentration (0.500) is 9.4 times higher than the G7 peer average (0.053), reflecting extreme reliance on the US market.
reporters: G7 (CAN, USA, JPN, DEU, GBR, FRA, ITA) · year: 2023 Ratio of Canada HHI to mean of other 6 G7 economies No other G7 economy exceeds 0.084 in partner market concentration.
US Share Attribution ~95% of Total Score Because Canada ships ~75% of goods to the US, the squared US share ($0.75^2 = 0.5625$) accounts for nearly 95% of Canada's total HHI value.
reporter: CAN · partner: USA · year: 2023 Analytical share attribution ($s_{US}^2 / HHI$) All other 200+ partners combined contribute less than 0.02 to the index sum.
Historical Trajectory (1991 → 2023) 0.693 → 0.500 Concentration declined 28% from its early-1990s post-FTA peak of 0.693 as non-US export shares (China, Europe) expanded slightly post-2000.
reporter: CAN · years: 1991, 2023 Historical delta 1991 represented the initial post-FTA surge where US export shares first approached 80%.
- 1991 Post-FTA / HS Adoption (Canada HHI: 0.693) — NOTES.md: Peak bilateral integration following Canada-US Free Trade Agreement
- 1999 Dot-Com / NAFTA High (Canada HHI: 0.676) — NOTES.md: US export share exceeded 84% during peak US economic expansion
- 2008 Financial Crisis Shock (Canada HHI drops to 0.535) — NOTES.md: Collapse in US automotive and commodity demand initiates long-term easing
- 2020 COVID Pandemic Dip (Canada HHI: 0.488) — NOTES.md: Global trade contraction, multi-decade low in Canadian market concentration
- 2023 Current Baseline (Canada HHI: 0.4995) — NOTES.md: Plateau at ~0.50 established across the 2011–2023 decade
reporters: Canada, Mexico, United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Australia · indicator: HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX · time window: 1989–2023 Annual index observations Shows Canada and Mexico forming a distinct North American high-concentration tier (>0.45) alongside globally diversified OECD peers (<0.10).
year: 2022 · scope: All sovereign reporting economies (excluding regional aggregates) · indicator: HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX Top 15 ranking by market concentration index Canada ranks #4 globally behind Mongolia (China-dependent), Niger (France/China uranium/oil), and Mexico (US-dependent).
year: 2023 · scope: Group of Seven (G7) economies · indicator: HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX Exhaustive ranking of all 7 G7 member states Illustrates Canada's extreme outlier status within the G7, with concentration an order of magnitude above European members.
year: 2022 · scope: All reporting sovereign economies (n = 153) · indicator: HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX 16 equal-width bins (step = 0.05) Shows severe right-skew: over 75% of global economies have HHI < 0.20. Canada (0.498) and Mexico (0.566) sit in the top 5th percentile.
Notes
Canada is the #1 most market-concentrated exporter in the G7 (HHI 0.500 vs peer average 0.053) and ranks #4 globally behind only Mongolia, Niger, and Mexico due to overwhelming US destination gravity.
Validation Checks
ok Canada 2023 Export Market Concentration Index: 0.4995 (~0.50)
External: 0.50 (World Bank WITS Canada Country Trade Snapshot (wits.worldbank.org/countrysnapshot/en/CAN))
Exact match with published World Bank WITS headline indicator (rounded to 2 decimal places).
ok Canada ranks #1 in export market concentration among all G7 economies (0.500 vs G7 peer avg 0.053)
External: Canada #1 in G7 (~0.50 vs G7 peers all <0.10) (WTO / World Bank Trade Profiles 2024 & OECD Trade Statistics)
Canada's concentration is nearly 6x higher than second-place Japan (0.084) and ~13x higher than Germany (0.039).
ok Canada's elevated HHI is driven by US bilateral trade absorbing >75% of merchandise exports (s_US^2 ~ 0.56)
External: >75% to US (US share ~$595B CAD of ~$770B CAD total) (Statistics Canada The Daily (2024-02-06: Canadian International Merchandise Trade, Dec 2023) & USTR)
Because HHI squares bilateral shares ($0.75^2 = 0.5625$), US destination demand accounts for >95% of Canada's concentration score.
ok Canada ranks #4 globally in export market concentration among sovereign economies in 2022 (0.4976)
External: Canada #4 globally (0.498) behind Mongolia (0.779), Niger (0.569), and Mexico (0.566) (World Bank WITS Global Trade Indicators Database (HH-MKT-CNCNTRTN-NDX))
Among industrialized and high-income OECD economies, Canada and Mexico are unique outliers in exhibiting partner concentration comparable to resource-monoculture economies.