Countries by Communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP)

Ireland ranks 1st globally, with communications, computer, and related services accounting for 84.29% of its service imports. At the other end, Guyana ranks 191st with a value of -47.25%, a negative figure that reflects data anomalies rather than a straightforward comparison. The 131-percentage-point spread across 191 countries underscores how differently national service import structures are composed.

Trade category

Ranking 2024

Values shown in %.

Countries by Communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP)
Rank	Country	%
1	Ireland	84.29
2	Namibia	79.92
3	Eswatini	77.24
4	Malta	75.16
5	Papua New Guinea	72.63
6	Switzerland	70.84
7	Sweden	70.64
8	Barbados	70.53
9	Guinea	64.79
10	Finland	64.76
11	Japan	63.71
12	Netherlands	62.88
13	Israel	61.91
14	India	60.49
15	Seychelles	58.71
16	Suriname	58.61
17	Grenada	58.32
18	Ghana	57.18
19	Poland	56.48
20	South Korea	56.27
21	Republic of Congo	55.25
22	Solomon Islands	55.08
23	Estonia	54.98
24	Cyprus	54.88
25	Brazil	54.53
26	United Kingdom	54.13
27	Belgium	53.62
28	France	53.48
29	Hungary	51.44
30	New Caledonia	51.38
31	Gabon	51.10
32	Austria	51.04
33	Saint Lucia	50.72
34	Bahamas	50.42
35	Germany	50.17
36	North Macedonia	50.13
37	Botswana	49.63
38	Singapore	49.35
39	Venezuela	48.82
40	Spain	48.01
41	Antigua and Barbuda	47.75
42	Romania	47.68
43	Czechia	47.56
44	Croatia	47.12
45	Liberia	47.11
46	Benin	47.01
47	Latvia	46.97
48	Mozambique	46.83
49	Canada	46.81
50	Italy	46.44
51	Myanmar	46.27
52	Senegal	46.16
53	Norway	45.59
54	Portugal	45.18
55	Mauritania	45.13
56	South Sudan	44.93
57	Denmark	44.66
58	Brunei	44.11
59	South Africa	43.99
60	Marshall Islands	43.66
61	Slovenia	43.63
62	Uruguay	43.45
63	Slovakia	43.33
64	New Zealand	43.19
65	Tuvalu	43.07
66	Iceland	42.66
67	Algeria	42.64
68	Malaysia	42.61
69	Sri Lanka	41.84
70	Indonesia	41.41
71	United States	40.92
72	Argentina	40.79
73	Aruba	40.74
74	Andorra	40.56
75	Dominica	40.10
76	Serbia	40.04
77	Zimbabwe	39.87
78	Thailand	39.81
79	Macao	39.30
80	Mauritius	39.28
81	Sao Tome and Principe	38.93
82	Cabo Verde	38.77
83	Cayman Islands	38.66
84	Costa Rica	38.59
85	Australia	38.55
86	Montenegro	38.52
87	Zambia	38.52
88	Jamaica	38.07
89	Samoa	37.89
90	Chile	37.70
91	Malawi	37.54
92	Bulgaria	37.38
93	San Marino	37.27
94	Trinidad and Tobago	37.11
95	Azerbaijan	37.06
96	Türkiye	36.78
97	Palestine	36.77
98	Sierra Leone	35.96
99	Lithuania	35.06
100	Saint Kitts and Nevis	34.88
101	Bermuda	34.47
102	Peru	33.76
103	Madagascar	33.74
104	Colombia	33.52
105	Maldives	33.43
106	Luxembourg	33.36
107	Cameroon	32.74
108	Philippines	32.69
109	Morocco	32.68
110	Kazakhstan	32.66
111	Mexico	32.01
112	Saudi Arabia	31.94
113	Tonga	31.49
114	Côte d'Ivoire	31.05
115	Nigeria	30.55
116	Mali	30.15
117	Yemen	29.51
118	Curaçao	29.27
119	Ecuador	28.96
120	Belize	28.93
121	China	27.29
122	Kenya	27.19
123	Pakistan	27.04
124	Uganda	26.72
125	Egypt	26.70
126	Timor-Leste	26.65
127	Qatar	26.13
128	Ukraine	25.80
129	Bolivia	25.78
130	Dominican Republic	25.67
131	Mongolia	25.44
132	Sudan	24.25
133	French Polynesia	24.20
134	Kosovo	24.10
135	Paraguay	23.54
136	Honduras	23.48
137	Moldova	23.45
138	Bangladesh	21.83
139	Tanzania	21.21
140	Belarus	21.19
141	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	21.15
142	Bahrain	20.91
143	DR Congo	20.91
144	Russia	20.61
145	Kyrgyzstan	19.83
146	Georgia	19.61
147	Guatemala	19.48
148	Kiribati	19.41
149	Oman	18.41
150	Greece	18.05
151	Haiti	16.89
152	Lebanon	16.68
153	Burkina Faso	16.67
154	El Salvador	16.55
155	Fiji	16.51
156	Ethiopia	16.45
157	Afghanistan	16.29
158	United Arab Emirates	15.85
159	Togo	15.75
160	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	14.89
161	Niger	14.82
162	Tunisia	14.46
163	Panama	14.05
164	Guinea-Bissau	13.72
165	Kuwait	13.59
166	Comoros	13.40
167	Iraq	13.19
168	Burundi	12.75
169	Hong Kong	12.38
170	Bosnia and Herzegovina	12.38
171	Angola	12.25
172	Cambodia	12.23
173	Nicaragua	11.51
174	Lesotho	11.24
175	Vanuatu	10.23
176	Albania	10.01
177	Armenia	9.92
178	Nepal	9.79
179	Uzbekistan	9.08
180	Palau	8.75
181	Bhutan	8.36
182	Nauru	8.10
183	Rwanda	7.87
184	Libya	7.77
185	Djibouti	7.12
186	Jordan	6.11
187	Laos	1.64
188	Turks and Caicos Islands	1.00
189	Gambia	-1.45
190	Tajikistan	-2.18
191	Guyana	-47.25

Analysis

This metric measures communications, computer, and related services as a share of total service imports, recorded in the balance of payments. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code BM.GSR.CMCP.ZS), the category covers international telecommunications; computer data; news-related service transactions between residents and nonresidents; construction services; royalties and license fees; miscellaneous business, professional, and technical services; personal, cultural, and recreational services; and manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others. The unit is percentage of total service imports. Data covers 191 countries, with 96.3% of entries from the last seven years and 100% classified as official data. Five extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold, and the data year is 2024.

Ireland leads all 191 countries at 84.29%, followed by Namibia at 79.92% (rank 2) and Eswatini at 77.24% (rank 3). Malta ranks 4th at 75.16% and Papua New Guinea 5th at 72.63%. Among large economies, Switzerland ranks 6th at 70.84%, Sweden 7th at 70.64%, Japan 11th at 63.71%, and India 14th at 60.49%. These high-ranking countries share a common feature in the data: a large portion of their recorded service imports falls within the broad categories captured by this indicator, including royalties, technical services, and computer-related transactions.

The middle of the ranking includes the United States at rank 71 with 40.92%, China at rank 121 with 27.29%, and Russia at rank 144 with 20.61%. Greece ranks 150th at 18.05%, despite being a significant services economy, suggesting its import mix is weighted toward travel or transport rather than the categories measured here. At the bottom, Jordan ranks 186th at 6.11%, Lao PDR 187th at 1.64%, and Turks and Caicos Islands 188th at 1.00%. Gambia ranks 189th at -1.45% and Tajikistan 190th at -2.18%, both negative values that indicate data reporting irregularities rather than a meaningful economic interpretation.

Negative values in this dataset, seen for Gambia (-1.45%, rank 189), Tajikistan (-2.18%, rank 190), and especially Guyana (-47.25%, rank 191), are a significant limitation. A share of service imports cannot logically be negative under standard accounting, and these figures likely reflect revisions, offsetting entries, or reporting inconsistencies in underlying balance-of-payments data. The broad definition of this indicator, which bundles telecommunications, construction, royalties, and professional services into a single share, makes it difficult to isolate the contribution of any single sub-category. Countries with limited statistical capacity may report incomplete or inconsistent service trade data, affecting comparability. The average year-over-year change of 38.2% also points to high volatility in some country series.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code BM.GSR.CMCP.ZS, with a reference year of 2024. The metric measures communications, computer, and related services as a percentage of total service imports in the balance of payments. Per the source definition, the category covers international telecommunications; computer data; news-related service transactions between residents and nonresidents; construction services; royalties and license fees; miscellaneous business, professional, and technical services; personal, cultural, and recreational services; and manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others. The ranking covers 191 countries. Of these, 184 out of 191 (96.3%) have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official. Latest-year data (2024) are available for 150 of 191 countries (78.5%). Five extreme outliers were identified using a 3-sigma threshold. The value range spans -47.25% to 84.29%, a spread of 278.4%. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 38.2%, below the 50% volatility threshold. Negative values for three countries represent likely reporting anomalies and should be interpreted with caution.

Sources

World Bank