Bhutan: Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Bhutan's insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports) fell 3.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 12.46% to 9.33%).

Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2023), the average change was +0 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 21.75 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 61.6 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 60.33 percentage points in 2023. 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 20% 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, Bhutan had the 9th highest value of the 23 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 Bhutan in the 2024 ranking

• Burkina Faso — 6th of 23: 18.16%
• Mali — 7th of 23: 11.29%
• Niger — 8th of 23: 10.36%
• Malta — 10th of 23: 6.71%
• Kyrgyz Republic — 11th of 23: 6.02%
• Mauritius — 12th of 23: 5.62%

What this measures

Financial services covers services related to financial intermediation, financial risk management, liquidity transformation or auxiliary financial activities. It also includes insurance and pension scheme services which are services related to providing life insurance and annuities, non-life insurance, reinsurance, pensions, standardised guarantees and auxiliary services to insurance, pension schemes, and standardised guarantee schemes. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.

Limitations: Balance of payments statistics, the main source of information on international trade in services, have many weaknesses. Disaggregation of important components may be limited and varies considerably across countries. There are inconsistencies in the methods used to report items. And the recording of major flows as net items is common (for example, insurance transactions are often recorded as premiums less claims). These factors contribute to a downward bias in the value of the service trade reported in the balance of payments. Efforts are being made to improve the coverage, quality, and consistency of these data.

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

All 19 values

Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 2.83% (2025)
• India — 2.76% (2025)
• Nepal — 1.21% (2025)
• Sri Lanka — 0.96% (2025)

More private sector & trade data for Bhutan

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 83.28% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$2.18 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$800 million (2025)
• International tourism, number of arrivals — 29,800 (2020)
• International tourism, receipts (current US$) — US$84 million (2020)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 132.5 (2025)
• Export unit value index (2015 = 100) — 150.3 (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 4.9% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Bhutan's insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports)?

9.33% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2006?

It is down 3.08 percentage points from 12.41% in 2006. The highest value was 72.8% in 2022 and the lowest 2.05% in 2014.

How does Bhutan rank?

9th highest of 23 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports) unusual for Bhutan?

In 2024, Bhutan's insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports) fell 3.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 12.46% to 9.33%). Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2023), the average change was +0 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 21.75 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 TX.VAL.INSF.ZS.WT, 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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