Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD): ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD)'s ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports) rose 0.08 percentage points on 2023 (from 0.31% to 0.39%).

Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2023), the average change was −0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.11 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 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 0.19 percentage points in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.33 percentage points in 2017. 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 0.04 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 61% 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Information and communication technology goods exports include computers and peripheral equipment, communication equipment, consumer electronic equipment, electronic components, and other information and technology goods (miscellaneous).

Limitations: Detailed trade data are widely available from country trade statistics. These are collected by the UNSD and published in their UN COMTRADE database. The ICT goods trade indicators are usually compiled by interested international and national agencies using COMTRADE data. Concepts are therefore consistent with those applying to the COMTRADE database. The main statistical issue associated with this indicator appears to be the different treatment of re-exports and re-imports by countries, depending on whether the Special or General Trade System is used.2 Re-imports are separately reported for some countries and the value of ICT re-imports (which is included in the value of ICT imports for those…

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 25 values

ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 0.03% (2017)
• Bahrain — 1.45% (2023)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 2.27% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 0.01% (2022)
• Israel — 17.66% (2024)
• Jordan — 0.34% (2023)
• Kuwait — 0.26% (2023)
• Lebanon — 0.5% (2024)
• Malta — 24.26% (2024)
• Morocco — 2.97% (2023)

More infrastructure data for Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD)

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 5 million (2025)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 0.4 (2025)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 717,259 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 4,829 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 56.96 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 1.2 billion (2025)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 90.4 (2025)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 48,023 (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD)'s ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports)?

0.39% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is down 0.26 percentage points from 0.64% in 2000. The highest value was 0.74% in 2014 and the lowest 0.25% in 2022.

Is the latest change in ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports) unusual for Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD)?

In 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD)'s ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports) rose 0.08 percentage points on 2023 (from 0.31% to 0.39%). Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2023), the average change was −0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.11 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 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.ICTG.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UNCTADstat database, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), uri: http://unctadstat.unctad.org/ReportFolders/reportFolders.aspx 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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