Canada: Transport services (% of commercial service exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Canada's transport services (% of commercial service exports) rose 0.41 percentage points on 2024 (from 9.25% to 9.66%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.43 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.84 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 11.79 percentage points in 1961 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.45 percentage points in 1967. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.59 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 84% 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 7.16% for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.38%, against 1.54% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2025, Canada had the 96th highest value of the 134 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 Canada in the 2025 ranking

• Spain — 93rd of 134: 10.23%
• El Salvador — 94th of 134: 10.09%
• Italy — 95th of 134: 9.75%
• Uruguay — 97th of 134: 8.77%
• Uganda — 98th of 134: 8.6%
• Botswana — 99th of 134: 8.43%

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 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 66 values

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

• Bermuda — 2.89% (2025)
• United States — 8.38% (2025)

More private sector & trade data for Canada

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 48.8% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$577.44 billion (2025)
• Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service imports) — 48.39% (2025)
• Commercial service imports (current US$) — US$168.75 billion (2025)
• Transport services (% of commercial service imports) — 16.97% (2025)
• Travel services (% of commercial service imports) — 25.75% (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$554.68 billion (2025)
• Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service exports) — 50.46% (2025)
• Commercial service exports (current US$)

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 Canada's transport services (% of commercial service exports)?

9.66% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

It is down 11.86 percentage points from 21.52% in 1960. The highest value was 35.7% in 1980 and the lowest 9.25% in 2024.

How does Canada rank?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.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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