High-technology exports (current US$) - Country Ranking - Asia

Definition: High-technology exports are products with high R&D intensity, such as aerospace, computers, pharmaceuticals, scientific instruments, and electrical machinery. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Source: United Nations, Comtrade database through the WITS platform.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 China 757,683,000,000.00 2020
2 Hong Kong SAR, China 340,122,000,000.00 2020
3 Korea 163,987,000,000.00 2020
4 Singapore 160,491,000,000.00 2020
5 Japan 102,751,000,000.00 2020
6 Vietnam 101,534,000,000.00 2020
7 Malaysia 92,107,690,000.00 2020
8 Thailand 45,837,990,000.00 2020
9 Philippines 32,818,760,000.00 2020
10 India 21,583,200,000.00 2020
11 Israel 12,960,520,000.00 2020
12 Russia 6,603,644,000.00 2020
13 Indonesia 6,411,913,000.00 2020
14 Turkey 4,172,700,000.00 2020
15 Kazakhstan 2,492,254,000.00 2020
16 United Arab Emirates 1,155,954,000.00 2020
17 Qatar 465,899,500.00 2020
18 Pakistan 309,393,300.00 2020
19 Cambodia 308,424,300.00 2020
20 Lao PDR 229,427,400.00 2019
21 Saudi Arabia 217,407,500.00 2020
22 Myanmar 202,309,300.00 2020
23 Bahrain 171,028,600.00 2019
24 Iran 153,101,900.00 2018
25 Bangladesh 93,607,700.00 2015
26 Sri Lanka 83,149,830.00 2020
27 Jordan 78,697,330.00 2020
28 Lebanon 76,215,320.00 2020
29 Oman 73,302,560.00 2018
30 Uzbekistan 42,220,500.00 2020
31 Mongolia 39,589,730.00 2019
32 Syrian Arab Republic 38,812,400.00 2010
33 Azerbaijan 33,914,980.00 2020
34 Kuwait 30,598,850.00 2020
35 Armenia 28,749,970.00 2020
36 Kyrgyz Republic 27,637,570.00 2020
37 Brunei 15,965,130.00 2020
38 Georgia 14,030,860.00 2020
39 Nepal 5,285,142.00 2019
40 Yemen 3,030,318.00 2015
41 Tajikistan 1,554,883.00 2020
42 Bhutan 58,575.00 2012
43 Afghanistan 0.00 2019
43 Macao SAR, China 0.00 2020

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Development Relevance: The OECD has developed a four-way classification of exports: high, medium-high, medium-low and low-technology. The classification is based on the importance of expenditures on research and development relative to the gross output and value added of different types of industries that produce goods for export. Examples of high-technology industries are aircraft, computers, and pharmaceuticals; medium-high-technology includes motor vehicles, electrical equipment and most chemicals; medium-low-technology includes rubber, plastics, basic metals and ship construction; low-technology industries include food processing, textiles, clothing and footwear.

Limitations and Exceptions: Because industrial sectors specializing in a few high-technology products may also produce low-technology products, the product approach is more appropriate for international trade. The method takes only R&D intensity into account, but other characteristics of high technology are also important, such as knowhow, scientific personnel, and technology embodied in patents. Considering these characteristics would yield a different list (see Hatzichronoglou 1997). The indicator is based on data reported by countries to COMTRADE. The export values presented in the World Development Indicators represent Gross Exports less Re-Exports. The values may be impacted in cases of reporting errors or missing data, for example if countries do not report Re-Exports for one or more periods.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: High technology products are defined according to SITC Rev.4 as the sum of the following products: Aerospace, Computers-office machines, Electronics-telecommunications, Pharmacy, Scientific instruments, Electrical machinery, Chemistry, Non-electrical machinery, Armament. The following product codes are used: Aerospace: (714 – 71489 -71499)+7921+7922+7924+7925+79291+79293+87411; Computers-office machines: 75194+75195+752+75997; Electronics-communication: 76331+7638+(764-76493-76499)+7722+77261+77318+77625+77627+7763+7764+7768+89844+89846; Pharmacy: 5413+5415+5416+5421+5422; Scientific instruments: 774+871+87211+(874-87411-8742)+88111+88121+88411+88419+(8996-89965-89969); Electrical machinery: (7786-77861-777866-77869)+7787+77884; Chemistry: 52222+52223+52229+52269+525+531+57433+591; Non-electrical machinery: 71489+71499+7187+72847+7311+73131+73135+73142+73144+73151+73153+73161+73163+73165+73312+73314+73316+7359+73733+73735; Armament: 891 The list can also be accessed on the Eurostat website. This list, based on the OECD definition, contains technical products of which the manufacturing involved a high intensity of R&D. The original high-tech products classification is based on SITC Rev. 3 and is taken from Table 4 of Annex 2 of the 1997 working paper of Thomas Hatzichronouglou, OECD. In September 2019 the definition in the World Development Indicators database was updated to SITC Rev.4 from SITC Rev. 3. The data are in current U.S. dollars and are sourced from the UN's Comtrade database.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual