AKPAKP Phnom Penh, October 10, 2026 -- Cambodia was one of the top five traders of goods among least developed countries (LDCs) in the six months to June, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) says.

In its Global Trade Outlook released this week, the WTO notes that the value of merchandise trade by LDC countries was “markedly better than total world trade during the first half of 2026.”

Preliminary estimates show LDC exports climbing 25 percent from a year earlier with imports rising 20 percent. The world’s two-way trade grew only 15 percent over the same period.

Among the top five LDC traders, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had the strongest export growth (50 percent) followed by Uganda (35 percent), Angola (29 percent), Cambodia (18 percent) and Bangladesh (1 percent).

For imports, the DRC ranked first in the first half (47 percent) followed by Cambodia (28 percent), Uganda (26 percent), Angola (15 percent) and Bangladesh (13 percent).

The WTO said the main drivers of export growth were copper in the DRC, gold in Uganda and fuels in Angola. The sluggish growth in Bangladesh was “in line with the world trade trend for clothing products, its primary export product.”

SURGE IN NON-GARMENT MANUFACTURING

While the WTO did not identify the main factor driving Cambodia’s export growth, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) has pointed to a surge in non-garment manufacturing.

AMRO chief economist Dong He told a news conference in Singapore on Monday that Cambodia’s non-garment manufacturing exports grew 37.3 percent in the first eight months of this year – much faster than the 16.8 percent growth in 2025.

By Sao Da