Bhutan: Travel services (% of commercial service exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Bhutan's travel services (% of commercial service exports) rose 5.8 percentage points on 2023 (from 71.65% to 77.45%).

Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2023), the average change was +0.99 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 24.07 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 70.46 percentage points in 2023 and the biggest yearly fall was 53.79 percentage points in 2021. 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 7% 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 3rd 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

• Bahamas, The — 1st of 29: 94.84%
• Jordan — 3rd of 29: 76.7%
• Rwanda — 4th of 29: 67.59%
• Tanzania — 5th of 29: 57.38%

What this measures

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 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

Travel services (% of commercial service exports) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 7.12% (2025)
• India — 7.7% (2025)
• Maldives — 96.28% (2025)
• Nepal — 40.68% (2025)
• Sri Lanka — 45.64% (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
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Bhutan's travel services (% of commercial service exports)?

77.45% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2006?

It is up 22.66 percentage points from 54.79% in 2006. The highest value was 79.03% in 2009 and the lowest 1.18% in 2022.

How does Bhutan rank?

3rd highest of 29 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Bhutan's travel services (% of commercial service exports) rose 5.8 percentage points on 2023 (from 71.65% to 77.45%). Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2023), the average change was +0.99 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 24.07 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 TX.VAL.TRVL.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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