Rwanda: Transport services (% of commercial service imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Rwanda's transport services (% of commercial service imports) rose 3.31 percentage points on 2023 (from 44.83% to 48.14%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was −2.61 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.03 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 11.84 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 30.22 percentage points in 2015. 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 less than 1% 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, Rwanda had the 15th 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 Rwanda in the 2024 ranking

• Burkina Faso — 12th of 29: 53.32%
• Tanzania — 13th of 29: 52.56%
• Marshall Islands — 14th of 29: 52.22%
• Fiji — 16th of 29: 46.57%
• Cameroon — 17th of 29: 46.51%
• Côte d'Ivoire — 18th of 29: 41.45%

What this measures

Transport is the process of carriage of people and objects from one location to another as well as related supporting and auxiliary services. Also included are postal and courier services. 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

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

• Angola — 40.85% (2025)
• Benin — 41.07% (2023)
• Botswana — 25.54% (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 53.32% (2024)
• Burundi — 60.32% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 31.59% (2025)
• Cameroon — 46.51% (2024)
• Comoros — 40.87% (2023)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 48.53% (2025)
• Congo, Rep.

More private sector & trade data for Rwanda

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 45.93% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$5.07 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$2.45 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 38.93% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise imports) — 24.21% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.00312% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$3.82 billion (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Rwanda's transport services (% of commercial service imports)?

48.14% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is down 30.6 percentage points from 78.74% in 2010. The highest value was 80.49% in 2014 and the lowest 44.83% in 2023.

How does Rwanda rank?

15th highest of 29 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in transport services (% of commercial service imports) unusual for Rwanda?

In 2024, Rwanda's transport services (% of commercial service imports) rose 3.31 percentage points on 2023 (from 44.83% to 48.14%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was −2.61 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.03 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.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TM.VAL.TRAN.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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