São Tomé and Principe: Transport services (% of commercial service exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, São Tomé and Principe's transport services (% of commercial service exports) rose 0.57 percentage points on 2024 (from 1.03% to 1.61%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1988 to 2024), the average change was −0.35 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.85 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 59.8 percentage points in 1978 and the biggest yearly fall was 37.13 percentage points in 1987. 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 12% 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, São Tomé and Principe had the 131st 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 São Tomé and Principe in the 2025 ranking

• Ireland — 128th of 134: 2.56%
• West Bank and Gaza — 129th of 134: 2.43%
• Sudan — 130th of 134: 1.76%
• Macao SAR, China — 132nd of 134: 1.61%
• St. Lucia — 133rd of 134: 1.31%
• Dominica — 134th of 134: 0.91%

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 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 46 values

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

• Angola — 22.83% (2025)
• Benin — 28.57% (2023)
• Botswana — 8.43% (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 17.3% (2024)
• Burundi — 7.92% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 11.09% (2025)
• Cameroon — 35.75% (2024)
• Comoros — 6.68% (2023)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 45.24% (2025)
• Congo, Rep.

More private sector & trade data for São Tomé and Principe

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$183 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$38 million (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 22.52% (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 50.15% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$181.65 million (2023)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 96.73% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports)

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 São Tomé and Principe's transport services (% of commercial service exports)?

1.61% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1974?

It is down 5.71 percentage points from 7.31% in 1974. The highest value was 69.59% in 1978 and the lowest 0.05% in 2018.

How does São Tomé and Principe rank?

131st highest of 134 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in transport services (% of commercial service exports) unusual for São Tomé and Principe?

In 2025, São Tomé and Principe's transport services (% of commercial service exports) rose 0.57 percentage points on 2024 (from 1.03% to 1.61%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1988 to 2024), the average change was −0.35 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.85 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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.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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