Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) - Country Ranking - Africa

Definition: Insurance and financial services cover freight insurance on goods imported and other direct insurance such as life insurance; financial intermediation services such as commissions, foreign exchange transactions, and brokerage services; and auxiliary services such as financial market operational and regulatory services.

Source: International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Libya 23.92 2019
2 Dem. Rep. Congo 23.50 2020
3 Burkina Faso 19.70 2020
4 Liberia 16.72 2019
5 Sierra Leone 14.77 2020
6 Mozambique 13.21 2020
7 Egypt 12.43 2020
8 Togo 12.15 2020
9 The Gambia 11.67 2021
10 Tunisia 11.59 2020
11 Malawi 11.53 2020
12 Kenya 10.84 2020
13 Sudan 9.32 2020
14 Senegal 9.23 2018
15 Angola 9.23 2020
16 Mauritius 8.89 2020
17 Zimbabwe 8.74 2020
18 Comoros 8.48 2020
19 Central African Republic 7.91 1994
20 Congo 7.43 2016
21 Cameroon 7.34 2020
22 Zambia 7.10 2020
23 Nigeria 6.50 2020
24 Tanzania 5.86 2020
25 South Africa 5.70 2020
26 Gabon 5.64 2015
27 Cabo Verde 5.24 2020
28 Côte d'Ivoire 5.06 2020
29 Ghana 4.98 2020
30 Morocco 4.92 2020
31 São Tomé and Principe 4.88 2020
32 Guinea 4.24 2020
33 Ethiopia 4.14 2020
34 Mali 4.03 2020
35 Namibia 3.63 2020
36 Djibouti 3.42 2020
37 Seychelles 3.41 2020
38 Algeria 3.26 2020
39 Rwanda 2.99 2020
40 Uganda 2.92 2020
41 Guinea-Bissau 2.87 2020
42 Madagascar 2.66 2020
43 Lesotho 2.66 2021
44 Equatorial Guinea 2.58 1988
45 Eritrea 1.88 2000
46 Eswatini 1.80 2020
47 Burundi 1.56 2018
48 Chad 1.52 1994
49 Benin 1.51 2020
50 Mauritania 1.50 2020
51 Botswana 1.34 2020
52 Niger 1.21 2020

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Development Relevance: Trade in services differs from trade in goods because services are produced and consumed at the same time. Thus services to a traveler may be consumed in the producing country (for example, use of a hotel room) but are classified as imports of the traveler's country. In other cases services may be supplied from a remote location; for example, insurance services may be supplied from one location and consumed in another.

Limitations and Exceptions: 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. Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, for example, are working together to improve the collection of statistics on trade in services in member countries. Still, difficulties in capturing all the dimensions of international trade in services mean that the record is likely to remain incomplete. Cross-border intrafirm service transactions, which are usually not captured in the balance of payments, have increased in recent years. An example is transnational corporations' use of mainframe computers around the clock for data processing, exploiting time zone differences between their home country and the host countries of their affiliates. Another important dimension of service trade not captured by conventional balance of payments statistics is establishment trade - sales in the host country by foreign affiliates. By contrast, cross-border intrafirm transactions in merchandise may be reported as exports or imports in the balance of payments.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The balance of payments (BoP) is a double-entry accounting system that shows all flows of goods and services into and out of an economy; all transfers that are the counterpart of real resources or financial claims provided to or by the rest of the world without a quid pro quo, such as donations and grants; and all changes in residents' claims on and liabilities to nonresidents that arise from economic transactions. All transactions are recorded twice - once as a credit and once as a debit. In principle the net balance should be zero, but in practice the accounts often do not balance, requiring inclusion of a balancing item, net errors and omissions. The concepts and definitions underlying the data are based on the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6). Balance of payments data for 2005 onward will be presented in accord with the BPM6. The historical BPM5 data series will end with data for 2008, which can be accessed through the World Development Indicators archives. The complete balance of payments methodology can be accessed through the International Monetary Fund website (www.imf.org/external/np/sta/bop/bop.htm).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual