Solomon Islands: Transport services (% of commercial service imports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Solomon Islands' transport services (% of commercial service imports) fell 0.81 percentage points on 2023 (from 33.65% to 32.84%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +1.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.68 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 47.54 percentage points in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 27.23 percentage points in 1993. 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 15% 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, Solomon Islands had the 23rd 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 Solomon Islands in the 2024 ranking

• Kyrgyz Republic — 19th of 29: 36.58%
• Guinea-Bissau — 20th of 29: 34.49%
• Zimbabwe — 21st of 29: 34.07%
• Mauritius — 23rd of 29: 30.62%
• Guinea — 24th of 29: 27.26%
• Bahamas, The — 25th of 29: 24.34%

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 50 values

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

• Australia — 16.35% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 16.22% (2025)
• Cambodia — 54.32% (2025)
• China — 17.88% (2025)
• Fiji — 46.57% (2024)
• French Polynesia — 31.16% (2016)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 20.99% (2025)
• Indonesia — 23.9% (2025)
• Japan — 13.58% (2025)
• Kiribati

More private sector & trade data for Solomon Islands

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$790 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$677 million (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 83.85% (2025)
• Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) — 4.19% (2024)
• Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service imports) — 44.76% (2024)
• Commercial service imports (current US$) — US$219.27 million (2024)
• Commercial service exports (current US$) — US$122.73 million (2024)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 43.43% (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

32.84% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1975?

It is down 19.96 percentage points from 52.8% in 1975. The highest value was 63.47% in 1999 and the lowest 2.68% in 1994.

How does Solomon Islands rank?

23rd highest of 29 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Solomon Islands' transport services (% of commercial service imports) fell 0.81 percentage points on 2023 (from 33.65% to 32.84%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +1.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.68 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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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