Share of plastic waste exports in Pakistan
Pakistan: Share of plastic waste exports was 0.5% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Share of plastic waste exports in Pakistan, 2005–2024
Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of plastic waste exports in Pakistan stood at 0.5%. That is the highest value across all 16 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 18.2% on the previous year and up 60.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of plastic waste exports in Pakistan peaked at 0.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2005.
Pakistan ranks 34th of 162 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Share of plastic waste exports in Pakistan, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 0.0% | — |
| 2007 | 0.2% | +266.0% |
| 2010 | 0.2% | +28.6% |
| 2011 | 0.3% | +38.6% |
| 2012 | 0.2% | -35.1% |
| 2013 | 0.4% | +71.2% |
| 2014 | 0.3% | -16.1% |
| 2015 | 0.2% | -26.5% |
| 2016 | 0.2% | -18.0% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | +123.6% |
| 2018 | 0.2% | -40.4% |
| 2019 | 0.1% | -48.9% |
| 2020 | 0.1% | -25.3% |
| 2021 | 0.1% | -9.8% |
| 2023 | 0.4% | +391.7% |
| 2024 | 0.5% | +18.2% |
Pakistan compared with similar countries
- Pakistan's 0.5% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.0%, 14.2× the median. (37 countries reporting)
- Pakistan's 0.5% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 0.0%, 31.1× the median. (19 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of plastic waste exports in Pakistan changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | +391.7% | 0.1% | 0.4% |
| 2007 | +266.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 2 |
| 2010s | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Pakistan
More environment data for Pakistan
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -10.53 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -7.64 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.373 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.58 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.7034 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 3.1 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of plastic waste exports in Pakistan?
- Share of plastic waste exports in Pakistan was 0.5% in 2024, according to United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Pakistan?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Pakistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2005.
- How does Pakistan rank for share of plastic waste exports?
- Pakistan ranks 34th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of plastic waste exports rising or falling in Pakistan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 60.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Pakistan data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of plastic waste exports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of global plastic waste exports that a country accounts for.