Travel services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries): Travel services was 35.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Travel services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries), 1977–2024
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of service exports, BoP.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) recorded 35.7% for travel services in 2024.
The figure is up 0.9% on the previous year and down 19.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) peaked at 49.6% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 22.0%, in 2020.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 15th out of 45 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 48 years of available data.
Travel services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries), year by year
| Year | % of service exports, BoP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 35.8% | — |
| 1978 | 31.0% | -13.3% |
| 1979 | 29.8% | -3.9% |
| 1980 | 31.2% | +4.5% |
| 1981 | 33.0% | +6.0% |
| 1982 | 34.4% | +4.1% |
| 1983 | 38.5% | +12.0% |
| 1984 | 37.3% | -3.2% |
| 1985 | 31.9% | -14.4% |
| 1986 | 37.1% | +16.2% |
| 1987 | 39.1% | +5.5% |
| 1988 | 39.4% | +0.6% |
| 1989 | 37.4% | -4.9% |
| 1990 | 36.3% | -2.9% |
| 1991 | 38.7% | +6.6% |
| 1992 | 37.2% | -3.9% |
| 1993 | 36.3% | -2.4% |
| 1994 | 40.7% | +12.1% |
| 1995 | 40.8% | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 43.1% | +5.6% |
| 1997 | 44.5% | +3.4% |
| 1998 | 45.2% | +1.6% |
| 1999 | 42.6% | -5.8% |
| 2000 | 39.7% | -6.9% |
| 2001 | 41.1% | +3.7% |
| 2002 | 41.2% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 46.8% | +13.7% |
| 2004 | 46.4% | -1.0% |
| 2005 | 49.6% | +7.1% |
| 2006 | 46.7% | -5.9% |
| 2007 | 48.8% | +4.5% |
| 2008 | 45.6% | -6.5% |
| 2009 | 46.5% | +1.9% |
| 2010 | 43.8% | -5.8% |
| 2011 | 42.0% | -4.0% |
| 2012 | 43.1% | +2.6% |
| 2013 | 42.9% | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 44.1% | +2.8% |
| 2015 | 39.3% | -10.7% |
| 2016 | 41.5% | +5.4% |
| 2017 | 42.6% | +2.7% |
| 2018 | 41.3% | -3.1% |
| 2019 | 39.1% | -5.2% |
| 2020 | 22.0% | -43.8% |
| 2021 | 23.6% | +7.0% |
| 2022 | 33.0% | +39.9% |
| 2023 | 35.4% | +7.4% |
| 2024 | 35.7% | +0.9% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | -43.8% | 39.1% | 22.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 32.2% | 29.8% | 35.8% | 3 |
| 1980s | 35.9% | 31.2% | 39.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 40.5% | 36.3% | 45.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 45.2% | 39.7% | 49.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 42.0% | 39.1% | 44.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.9% | 22.0% | 35.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
- 12 Tuvalu 84.5% compare
- 13 Syria 84.4% compare
- 14 Antigua and Barbuda 84.3% compare
- 15 Jamaica 82.1% compare
- 16 Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 80.8% compare
- 17 Sao Tome and Principe 80.8% compare
- 18 Dominican Republic 78.4% compare
More economy & growth data for Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), per capita 5.26 BoP, current US$ per person (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) 246.12 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) 0.1471 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) 3.82 % change on previous year (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (current US$), per 283.73 current US$ per person (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (current US$), per 0.1696 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) 9.56 % change on previous year (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), per unit -0.0012 BoP, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), per capita -1.99 BoP, current US$ per person (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), gaps filled 6.95 billion BoP, current US$ (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Travel services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) was 35.7% in 2024, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The highest recorded value was 49.6% in 2005.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.0% in 2020.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) rank for travel services?
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 15th out of 45 groups with data for 2024.
- Is travel services rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Travel services (% of service exports, BoP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 48 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are services provided by residents to non-residents.