Bhutan: Transport services (% of commercial service imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Bhutan's transport services (% of commercial service imports) fell 5.11 percentage points on 2023 (from 26.74% to 21.63%).

Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2023), the average change was +1.36 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 12.06 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 35.73 percentage points in 2007 and the biggest yearly fall was 15.28 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 less than 1% 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 26th highest value of the 29 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

• Mauritius — 23rd of 29: 30.62%
• Guinea — 24th of 29: 27.26%
• Bahamas, The — 25th of 29: 24.34%
• Malta — 27th of 29: 18.37%
• Papua New Guinea — 28th of 29: 16.6%
• Namibia — 29th of 29: 13.22%

What this measures

Transport is the process of carriage of people and objects from one location to another as well as related supporting and auxiliary services. Also included are postal and courier services. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to 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

Transport services (% of commercial service imports) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 53.16% (2025)
• India — 16.88% (2025)
• Maldives — 29.59% (2025)
• Nepal — 21% (2025)
• Sri Lanka — 29.71% (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 transport services (% of commercial service imports)?

21.63% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2006?

It is up 18.02 percentage points from 3.6% in 2006. The highest value was 42.03% in 2022 and the lowest 3.6% in 2006.

How does Bhutan rank?

26th highest of 29 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in transport services (% of commercial service imports) unusual for Bhutan?

In 2024, Bhutan's transport services (% of commercial service imports) fell 5.11 percentage points on 2023 (from 26.74% to 21.63%). Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2023), the average change was +1.36 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 12.06 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 TM.VAL.TRAN.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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