Macao SAR, China: Travel services (% of commercial service imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Macao SAR, China's travel services (% of commercial service imports) rose 0.74 percentage points on 2024 (from 39.21% to 39.95%).

Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2024), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.06 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 8.24 percentage points in 2023 and the biggest yearly fall was 10.64 percentage points in 2020. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 2% 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 2025, Macao SAR, China had the 19th 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 Macao SAR, China in the 2025 ranking

• Tonga — 16th of 134: 40.27%
• Moldova — 17th of 134: 40.05%
• Philippines — 18th of 134: 39.99%
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 20th of 134: 39.52%
• West Bank and Gaza — 21st of 134: 38.34%
• Brunei Darussalam — 22nd of 134: 37.15%

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 24 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)
• French Polynesia — 39.68% (2016)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 32.48% (2025)
• Indonesia — 22.53% (2025)
• Japan — 7.32% (2025)
• Kiribati

More private sector & trade data for Macao SAR, China

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$15.54 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$1.73 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 63.48% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 33.93% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.03% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$17.52 billion (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports) — 33.93% (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Macao SAR, China's travel services (% of commercial service imports)?

39.95% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2002?

It is up 4.49 percentage points from 35.45% in 2002. The highest value was 41.02% in 2019 and the lowest 24.24% in 2007.

How does Macao SAR, China rank?

19th highest of 134 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in travel services (% of commercial service imports) unusual for Macao SAR, China?

In 2025, Macao SAR, China's travel services (% of commercial service imports) rose 0.74 percentage points on 2024 (from 39.21% to 39.95%). Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2024), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.06 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 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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