In a global market with (mostly) free trade, it’s common to see economies that are very specialized, each producing specific goods based on the competitive advantages, incentives, and resources they have available.

Whether those inputs are inexpensive labor, ample amounts of natural resources, or a surplus in engineering talent, countries can use these advantages to manufacture and sell goods on the international market at a higher level of quality or a better price than competitors.

SIMPLIFYING WORLD TRADE

Today’s infographic comes to us from VoucherCloud, and it helps us get a sense of this specialization by looking at the top export of every country in the world. It’s a simple but telling way to see what countries are “good” at producing.

To start, here is a breakdown of countries, based on top export category:

Top Export (Category) # of countries % of countries Fuel 53 28.3% Metal, Mineral and Organic 50 26.7% Food and Produce 35 18.7% Transportation 24 12.8% Electronics 14 7.5% Textiles 6 3.2% Medical 5 2.7% Weapons 0 0.0%

Note: Dataset is from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (2015)

At a high level, it’s clear that the vast majority of exports are derived from natural resources.

Fuels, metals, minerals, and organics make up over half of all top exports. Meanwhile, food and produce, which includes commodities like sugar, coffee, fish, and soybeans, also could be classified this way as well – and they make up a further 18.7% of top exports.

A DIVE INTO REGIONS

Viewing specific regions based on this concept can also provide some insight, as well.

It gives a sense of how developed the economies are in a certain area – and it also shows what resources are plentiful and in demand from those regions.