French Polynesia: Travel services (% of commercial service imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2016, French Polynesia's travel services (% of commercial service imports) rose 4.47 percentage points on 2015 (from 35.21% to 39.68%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2015), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.97 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 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 7.59 percentage points in 2004 and the biggest yearly fall was 20.75 percentage points in 2006. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2007 to 2016 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.73 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 91% 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.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to French Polynesia in the 2016 ranking

• New Caledonia — 2nd of 3: 13.84%
• Yemen, Rep. — 3rd of 3: 3.37%

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 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 15 values

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

• Australia — 41.77% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 37.15% (2025)
• Cambodia — 20.15% (2025)
• China — 40.99% (2025)
• Fiji — 29.49% (2024)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 32.48% (2025)
• Indonesia — 22.53% (2025)
• Japan — 7.32% (2025)
• Kiribati — 23.91% (2025)
• Korea, Rep.

More private sector & trade data for French Polynesia

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$2.45 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$175 million (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 38.74% (2024)
• Agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.8% (2025)
• Food imports (% of merchandise imports) — 17.61% (2025)
• Fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.46% (2025)
• Manufactures imports (% of merchandise imports) — 40.39% (2025)
• Ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.48% (2025)
• Agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is French Polynesia's travel services (% of commercial service imports)?

39.68% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2002?

It is up 5.41 percentage points from 34.27% in 2002. The highest value was 47.22% in 2004 and the lowest 22.47% in 2008.

Is the latest change in travel services (% of commercial service imports) unusual for French Polynesia?

In 2016, French Polynesia's travel services (% of commercial service imports) rose 4.47 percentage points on 2015 (from 35.21% to 39.68%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2015), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.97 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.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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