Share of global plastic waste imports in Spain

Spain: Share of global plastic waste imports was 0.0% in 2024. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2024)
0.0%
World rank
168th
of 183 countries
All-time high
9.4%
in 1990
All-time low
0.0%
in 2000
Years of data
36
1989–2024

Share of global plastic waste imports in Spain, 1989–2024

02468101989200620241989: 6.5 %1990: 9.4 %1991: 6.6 %1992: 2.3 %1993: 0.815 %1994: 0.878 %1995: 1 %1996: 1.3 %1997: 0.988 %1998: 0.886 %1999: 0.739 %2000: 0 %2001: 0 %2002: 0.74 %2003: 0.668 %2004: 0.531 %2005: 0.425 %2006: 0.429 %2007: 0.452 %2008: 0 %2009: 0 %2010: 0.264 %2011: 0 %2012: 0.297 %2013: 0 %2014: 0 %2015: 0.555 %2016: 0.511 %2017: 0.804 %2018: 1.9 %2019: 2.9 %2020: 0 %2021: 0 %2022: 0 %2023: 0 %2024: 0 %

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

Analysis

Spain recorded 0.0% for share of global plastic waste imports in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.

The figure is down 100.0% over five years.

Over the whole period, share of global plastic waste imports in Spain peaked at 9.4% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2000.

Spain ranks 168th of 183 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 6.5% 6.5% 6.5% 1
1990s 2.5% 0.7% 9.4% 10
2000s 0.3% 0.0% 0.7% 10
2010s 0.7% 0.0% 2.9% 10
2020s 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 5

Countries ranked near Spain

  1. 165 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.0% compare
  2. 166 Greenland 0.0% compare
  3. 167 Sao Tome and Principe 0.0% compare
  4. 168 Brazil 0.0% compare
  5. 168 Bulgaria 0.0% compare
  6. 168 Ghana 0.0% compare
  7. 168 Greece 0.0% compare
  8. 168 Hungary 0.0% compare
  9. 168 Malawi 0.0% compare
  10. 168 Mexico 0.0% compare
  11. 168 Poland 0.0% compare
  12. 168 Senegal 0.0% compare
  13. 168 Slovakia 0.0% compare
  14. 168 South Korea 0.0% compare
  15. 168 Switzerland 0.0% compare
  16. 168 United Kingdom 0.0% compare
  17. 168 United States 0.0% compare
  18. 168 Uzbekistan 0.0% compare

See the full ranking of 183 places →

More environment data for Spain

All data for Spain →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of global plastic waste imports in Spain?
Share of global plastic waste imports in Spain was 0.0% 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 global plastic waste imports recorded in Spain?
The highest recorded value was 9.4% in 1990.
What is the lowest share of global plastic waste imports recorded in Spain?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2000.
How does Spain rank for share of global plastic waste imports?
Spain ranks 168th out of 183 countries with data for 2024.
Where does this Spain 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.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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

The percentage of global plastic waste imports that a country accounts for.