Malta: Trade in services (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Malta's trade in services (% of GDP) fell 6.66 percentage points on 2023 (from 176.1% to 169.44%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +3.98 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 19.11 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 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 60.7 percentage points in 2004 and the biggest yearly fall was 46.23 percentage points in 2017. 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 18% 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, Malta had the 1st highest value of the 30 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 Malta in the 2024 ranking

• Naoero — 2nd of 30: 91.03%
• Bahamas, The — 3rd of 30: 52.86%
• Fiji — 4th of 30: 52.17%

What this measures

Total trade in services includes services provided by residents to non-residents plus services provided by non-residents to residents. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 54 values

Trade in services (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 9.04% (2020)
• Algeria — 5.54% (2025)
• Bahrain — 64.65% (2025)
• Djibouti — 45.82% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 17.43% (2025)
• Iraq — 14.69% (2025)
• Israel — 24.1% (2025)
• Jordan — 27.21% (2024)
• Kuwait — 26.9% (2025)
• Lebanon — 72.45% (2023)
• Libya — 24.3% (2023)
• Morocco

More economic policy & debt data for Malta

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$1.54 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$1.49 billion (2025)
• Other manufacturing (% of value added in manufacturing) — 46.54% (2023)
• Textiles and clothing (% of value added in manufacturing) — 1.23% (2023)
• Chemicals (% of value added in manufacturing) — 6.47% (2023)
• Machinery and transport equipment (% of value added in manufacturing) — 30.86% (2023)
• Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) — US$14.36 billion (2025)
• Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) — 51.71% (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current US$)

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 Malta's trade in services (% of GDP)?

169.44% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is up 122.74 percentage points from 46.7% in 1971. The highest value was 211.87% in 2012 and the lowest 41.77% in 1984.

How does Malta rank?

1st highest of 30 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in trade in services (% of GDP) unusual for Malta?

In 2024, Malta's trade in services (% of GDP) fell 6.66 percentage points on 2023 (from 176.1% to 169.44%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +3.98 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 19.11 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations below 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 BG.GSR.NFSV.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators Database, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 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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