Africa Western and Central: ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Africa Western and Central's ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) fell 0.72 percentage points on 2023 (from 5.86% to 5.14%).

Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2006 to 2023), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.31 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.39 percentage points in 2011 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.89 percentage points in 2018. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.6 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 69% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Information and communication technology service exports include computer and communications services (telecommunications and postal and courier services) and information services (computer data and news-related service transactions).

Limitations: Discrepancies may arise in the balance of payments because there is no single source for balance of payments data and therefore no way to ensure that the data are fully consistent. Sources include customs data, monetary accounts of the banking system, external debt records, information provided by enterprises, surveys to estimate service transactions, and foreign exchange records. Differences in collection methods - such as in timing, definitions of residence and ownership, and the exchange rate used to value transactions - contribute to net errors and omissions. In addition, smuggling and other illegal or quasi-legal transactions may be unrecorded or misrecorded.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 20 values

ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 7.83% (2020)
• Algeria — 1.99% (2025)
• Bahrain — 7.61% (2025)
• Djibouti — 6.86% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 6.05% (2025)
• Iraq — 0.92% (2025)
• Israel — 64.63% (2025)
• Jordan — 0.51% (2024)
• Kuwait — 49.27% (2025)
• Lebanon — 1.78% (2023)

More infrastructure data for Africa Western and Central

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 2 million (2025)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 0.3 (2025)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 462 million (2025)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 86.5 (2025)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 131,257 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 10.78 million (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 67.46 (2023)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 17,396 (2023)
• ICT goods imports (% total goods imports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Africa Western and Central's ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP)?

5.14% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2005?

It is down 1.46 percentage points from 6.6% in 2005. The highest value was 11.99% in 2014 and the lowest 5.06% in 2021.

Is the latest change in ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) unusual for Africa Western and Central?

In 2024, Africa Western and Central's ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) fell 0.72 percentage points on 2023 (from 5.86% to 5.14%). Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2006 to 2023), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.31 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BX.GSR.CCIS.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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