Barbados: Services, value added (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Barbados' services, value added (% of GDP) rose 0.34 percentage points on 2023 (from 75.5% to 75.84%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.16 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.03 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above 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 26.5 percentage points in 1990 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.39 percentage points in 1980. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 29% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2024, Barbados had the 8th highest value of the 31 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Barbados in the 2024 ranking

• Monaco — 4th of 31: 87.2%
• Cayman Islands — 5th of 31: 86.54%
• Bahamas, The — 6th of 31: 77.19%
• Cuba — 8th of 31: 73.39%
• Palau — 9th of 31: 73.08%
• Israel — 10th of 31: 72.85%

What this measures

Services industries correspond to ISIC (Rev. 4) divisions 45-99 and includes wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage and communication, financial intermediation, real estate, renting and business activities, public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, health and social work, other community, social and personal service activities, private households with employed persons, and extra-territorial organizations and bodies. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Limitations: In the services industry the many self-employed workers and one-person businesses are sometimes difficult to locate, and they have little incentive to respond to surveys, let alone to report their full earnings. Compounding these problems are the many forms of economic activity that go unrecorded, including the work that women and children do for little or no pay.

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

All 50 values

Services, value added (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 68.66% (2025)
• Argentina — 56.15% (2025)
• Aruba — 76.28% (2023)
• Bahamas, The — 77.19% (2024)
• Belize — 62.44% (2024)
• Bolivia — 53.36% (2024)
• Brazil — 59.74% (2025)
• Cayman Islands — 86.54% (2024)
• Chile — 55.51% (2025)
• Colombia — 58.51% (2025)
• Costa Rica — 69.22% (2025)

More economic policy & debt data for Barbados

• GDP (current US$) — US$8.02 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 16.03 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$6.5 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 15.34 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$28,365 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 56,730 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$23,014 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 54,263 (2025)
• GNI (current US$) — US$7.69 billion (2025)
• GNI (current LCU) — 15.38 billion (2025)
• GNI per capita (current LCU) — 54,417 (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Barbados's services, value added (% of GDP)?

75.84% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1975?

It is up 29.23 percentage points from 46.61% in 1975. The highest value was 75.84% in 2024 and the lowest 42.47% in 1980.

How does Barbados rank?

8th highest of 31 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in services, value added (% of GDP) unusual for Barbados?

In 2024, Barbados' services, value added (% of GDP) rose 0.34 percentage points on 2023 (from 75.5% to 75.84%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.16 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.03 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above 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 NV.SRV.TOTL.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs); National Accounts data files, Central Banks; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) 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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