Zimbabwe: Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 5.53 percentage points from 12.81% in 2019. Since 1977 it is up 4.57 percentage points from 2.72% in 1977. The World Bank has no value for 22 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2024, Zimbabwe's insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) fell 0.11 percentage points on 2023 (from 7.4% to 7.28%).

Across the 23 yearly changes before that (1978 to 2023), the average change was −0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.11 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 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 2.96 percentage points in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.01 percentage points in 1985. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2017 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 30% of the movement over 8 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, Zimbabwe had the 15th highest value of the 27 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 Zimbabwe in the 2024 ranking

• Tanzania — 11th of 27: 8.06%
• Guinea — 12th of 27: 7.94%
• Fiji — 13th of 27: 7.88%
• Mauritius — 15th of 27: 6.58%
• Haiti — 16th of 27: 4.39%
• Solomon Islands — 17th of 27: 4.19%

What this measures

Financial services covers services related to financial intermediation, financial risk management, liquidity transformation or auxiliary financial activities. It also includes insurance and pension scheme services which are services related to providing life insurance and annuities, non-life insurance, reinsurance, pensions, standardised guarantees and auxiliary services to insurance, pension schemes, and standardised guarantee schemes. 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 26 values

Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) in nearby economies

• Angola — 7.08% (2025)
• Benin — 2.67% (2023)
• Botswana — 0.57% (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 16.83% (2024)
• Burundi — 10.59% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 3.73% (2025)
• Cameroon — 9.36% (2024)
• Comoros — 6.55% (2023)
• Congo, Dem. Rep.

More private sector & trade data for Zimbabwe

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 38.7% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$10.11 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$9.71 billion (2025)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 139.8 (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 8.71% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 27.05% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise imports) — 64.24% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Zimbabwe's insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports)?

7.28% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1977?

It is up 4.57 percentage points from 2.72% in 1977. The highest value was 12.81% in 2019 and the lowest 2.24% in 1985.

How does Zimbabwe rank?

15th highest of 27 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) unusual for Zimbabwe?

In 2024, Zimbabwe's insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) fell 0.11 percentage points on 2023 (from 7.4% to 7.28%). Across the 23 yearly changes before that (1978 to 2023), the average change was −0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.11 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 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.INSF.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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