Sierra Leone: Transport services (% of commercial service imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Sierra Leone's transport services (% of commercial service imports) fell 9.85 percentage points on 2023 (from 78.55% to 68.7%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +1.78 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 11.79 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 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 27.72 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 23.31 percentage points in 2010. 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 upward, about 6.71 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 84% 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, Sierra Leone had the 3rd 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 Sierra Leone in the 2024 ranking

• Djibouti — 1st of 29: 91.89%
• Haiti — 2nd of 29: 76.15%
• Mali — 4th of 29: 68.67%
• Liberia — 5th of 29: 63.32%
• Naoero — 6th of 29: 60.72%

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 48 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 Sierra Leone

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 45.91% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$1.89 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$1.53 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 13.74% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0.00395% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$513.99 million (2023)
• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 10.91% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports)

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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Questions people ask

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

68.7% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1977?

It is up 24.61 percentage points from 44.09% in 1977. The highest value was 78.55% in 2023 and the lowest 11% in 1999.

How does Sierra Leone rank?

3rd highest of 29 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Sierra Leone's transport services (% of commercial service imports) fell 9.85 percentage points on 2023 (from 78.55% to 68.7%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +1.78 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 11.79 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 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 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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