Namibia: Travel services (% of commercial service exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Namibia's travel services (% of commercial service exports) rose 1.23 percentage points on 2023 (from 33.58% to 34.81%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −1.92 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.08 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 13.66 percentage points in 2001 and the biggest yearly fall was 32.89 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 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is downward, about 3.2 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 48% 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

In 2024, Namibia had the 17th 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 Namibia in the 2024 ranking

• Haiti — 13th of 29: 41.76%
• Côte d'Ivoire — 14th of 29: 41.54%
• Mali — 15th of 29: 38.94%
• Niger — 17th of 29: 34.57%
• Kyrgyz Republic — 18th of 29: 29.05%
• Burkina Faso — 19th of 29: 23.75%

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 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 35 values

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

• Angola — 13.87% (2025)
• Benin — 55.64% (2023)
• Botswana — 55.17% (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 23.75% (2024)
• Burundi — 4.17% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 80.28% (2025)
• Cameroon — 12.99% (2024)
• Comoros — 77% (2023)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 53.31% (2025)
• Congo, Rep.

More private sector & trade data for Namibia

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 102.45% (2025)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 138 (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$8.43 billion (2025)
• Export unit value index (2015 = 100) — 152.1 (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$7.02 billion (2025)
• Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) — 1.88% (2024)
• Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service imports) — 80.23% (2024)
• Commercial service imports (current US$) — US$2.44 billion (2024)
• Transport services (% of commercial service imports) — 13.22% (2024)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Namibia's travel services (% of commercial service exports)?

34.81% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1990?

It is down 46.2 percentage points from 81% in 1990. The highest value was 92.35% in 1995 and the lowest 19.04% in 2020.

How does Namibia rank?

17th highest of 29 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in travel services (% of commercial service exports) unusual for Namibia?

In 2024, Namibia's travel services (% of commercial service exports) rose 1.23 percentage points on 2023 (from 33.58% to 34.81%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −1.92 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.08 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 TX.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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