Timor-Leste's external balance on goods and services (% of GDP) was -74.33% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 0.74 percentage points from -73.59% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | -74.33% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | -28.19% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | -73.59% | 2014 |
| Highest | 27.17% | 2021 |
| Lowest | -164.79% | 2002 |
| Average since 2015 | -33.74% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | -154.41% | 2000 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Timor-Leste's external balance on goods and services (% of GDP) fell 30.87 percentage points on 2023 (from -43.46% to -74.33%).
Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2023), the average change was +4.82 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 26.51 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 56.22 percentage points in 2003 and the biggest yearly fall was 57.06 percentage points in 2023. 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 8% 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, Timor-Leste had the 32nd highest value of the 33 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Timor-Leste | -74.33% | 2024 |
| World | 0.98% | 2025 |
| East Asia & Pacific | 4.08% | 2025 |
| Lower middle income | -3.05% | 2025 |
Closest to Timor-Leste in the 2024 ranking
What this measures
The balance of international trade in goods and services is the difference between the exports and imports of goods and services. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 25 values
| Year | External balance on goods and services (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | -74.33 |
| 2023 | -43.46 |
| 2022 | 13.6 |
| 2021 | 27.17 |
| 2020 | -11.42 |
| 2019 | -28.19 |
| 2018 | -58.96 |
| 2017 | -53.82 |
| 2016 | -54 |
| 2015 | -53.98 |
| 2014 |
External balance on goods and services (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- American Samoa — -30.77% (2022)
- Australia — 0.59% (2025)
- Brunei Darussalam — 19.53% (2025)
- Cambodia — 1.2% (2025)
- China — 4.19% (2025)
- Fiji — -10.15% (2024)
- French Polynesia — -27.83% (2024)
- Guam — -56.09% (2022)
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 2.87% (2025)
- Indonesia
More economic policy & debt data for Timor-Leste
- Short-term debt (% of total external debt) — 0.43% (2024)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, current US$) — −US$750,000 (2024)
- Adjusted savings, education expenditure (% of GNI) — 3.19% (2021)
- Adjusted savings, mineral depletion (current US$) — US$0 (2021)
- Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$221.69 million (2023)
- Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$259.94 million (2023)
- Net official development assistance and official aid received (constant 2023 US$) — US$259.94 million (2023)
- Net official development assistance received (current US$) — US$259.94 million (2023)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Timor-Leste's external balance on goods and services (% of GDP)?
- -74.33% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2000?
- It is up 80.08 percentage points from -154.41% in 2000. The highest value was 27.17% in 2021 and the lowest -164.79% in 2002.
- How does Timor-Leste rank?
- 32nd highest of 33 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in external balance on goods and services (% of GDP) unusual for Timor-Leste?
- In 2024, Timor-Leste's external balance on goods and services (% of GDP) fell 30.87 percentage points on 2023 (from -43.46% to -74.33%). Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2023), the average change was +4.82 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 26.51 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.RSB.GNFS.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) 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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