Share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda

Rwanda: Share of global plastic waste imports was 0.0% in 2022. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2022)
0.0%
Change on year
up 204.1%
World rank
85th
of 183 countries
All-time high
0.0%
in 2022
All-time low
0.0%
in 2009
Years of data
22
1999–2022

Share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda, 1999–2022

00.0030.0050.0070.011999201020221999: 0 %2001: 0 %2003: 0 %2004: 0 %2005: 0 %2006: 0 %2007: 0 %2008: 0 %2009: 0 %2010: 0.001 %2011: 0 %2012: 0 %2013: 0.002 %2014: 0.002 %2015: 0.003 %2016: 0 %2017: 0.001 %2018: 0.002 %2019: 0.007 %2020: 0.01 %2021: 0.003 %2022: 0.01 %

Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

The most recent figure for share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda is 0.0%, measured in 2022. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.

The figure is up 204.1% on the previous year and up 2,296.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda peaked at 0.0% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2009.

Rwanda ranks 85th of 183 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda, year by year

Annual values for Share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda, 1999 to 2022.
Year % Change
1999 0.0%
2001 0.0% +488.7%
2003 0.0% +120.0%
2004 0.0% -90.5%
2005 0.0% -27.8%
2006 0.0% +1264.2%
2007 0.0% -0.3%
2008 0.0% -58.9%
2009 0.0% -92.5%
2010 0.0% +6684.9%
2011 0.0% -19.9%
2012 0.0% -7.7%
2013 0.0% +262.9%
2014 0.0% +34.4%
2015 0.0% +35.5%
2016 0.0% -86.1%
2017 0.0% +278.5%
2018 0.0% +64.1%
2019 0.0% +179.3%
2020 0.0% +46.4%
2021 0.0% -66.3%
2022 0.0% +204.1%

Rwanda compared with similar countries

  • Rwanda's 0.0% is above the median for low income countries, which is 0.0%, 1.1× the median. (17 countries reporting)
  • Rwanda's 0.0% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.0%, 4.6× the median. (41 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda 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.

YearChange FromTo
2010 +6684.9% 0.0% 0.0%
2006 +1264.2% 0.0% 0.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1
2000s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 8
2010s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10
2020s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3

Countries ranked near Rwanda

  1. 82 Tanzania 0.0% compare
  2. 83 Sierra Leone 0.0% compare
  3. 84 Zambia 0.0% compare
  4. 86 Democratic Republic of Congo 0.0% compare
  5. 87 Solomon Islands 0.0% compare
  6. 88 Burkina Faso 0.0% compare

See the full ranking of 183 places →

More environment data for Rwanda

All data for Rwanda →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda?
Share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda was 0.0% in 2022, 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 global plastic waste imports recorded in Rwanda?
The highest recorded value was 0.0% in 2022.
What is the lowest share of global plastic waste imports recorded in Rwanda?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2009.
How does Rwanda rank for share of global plastic waste imports?
Rwanda ranks 85th out of 183 countries with data for 2022.
Is share of global plastic waste imports rising or falling in Rwanda?
Over the last ten years it is up 2,296.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Rwanda 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 global plastic waste imports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Share of global plastic waste imports in Rwanda. Statizoid, drawing on United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/share-plastic-waste-imports/rwanda/

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About this data

Indicator
Share of global plastic waste imports
Unit
%
Source
United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
183 places, 4,496 data points, 1988–2024
Last refreshed

Percentage of global plastic waste imports that a country accounts for.