Guinea-Bissau: Commercial service imports (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Guinea-Bissau's commercial service imports (current US$) rose 4.7% on 2023 (from US$189.45 million to US$198.43 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2023), the average change was +8.4% and a typical year strayed about 22.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 72.4% in 2007 and the biggest yearly fall was 42.6% in 1986. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$6.48 million a year. A straight line explains 70% 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 US$220.58 million for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was US$869,797, against US$20.7 million 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 2024, Guinea-Bissau had the 27th 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 Guinea-Bissau in the 2024 ranking

• Liberia — 24th of 29: US$250.26 million
• Bhutan — 25th of 29: US$220.69 million
• Solomon Islands — 26th of 29: US$219.27 million
• Naoero — 28th of 29: US$81.58 million
• Marshall Islands — 29th of 29: US$64.21 million

What this measures

Commercial service imports are total service imports minus imports of government services not included elsewhere. Imports of services are services provided by non-residents to residents. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.

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 gap-filled total.

All 40 values

Commercial service imports (current US$) in nearby economies

• Angola — US$8.16 billion (2025)
• Benin — US$1.54 billion (2023)
• Botswana — US$1.3 billion (2025)
• Burkina Faso — US$1.41 billion (2024)
• Burundi — US$389.34 million (2025)
• Cabo Verde — US$328.28 million (2025)
• Cameroon — US$2.37 billion (2024)
• Comoros — US$203.75 million (2023)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — US$4.59 billion (2025)
• Congo, Rep. — US$1.68 billion (2021)

More private sector & trade data for Guinea-Bissau

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$489 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$313 million (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 31.73% (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 37.3% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise imports) — 44.49% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.00341% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$322.03 million (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within 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 Guinea-Bissau's commercial service imports (current US$)?

US$198.43 million in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1982?

It is up 1,359% from US$13.6 million in 1982 (6.59% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$198.43 million in 2024 and the lowest US$13.2 million in 1983.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.SERV.CD.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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.