Insurance and financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries): Insurance and financial services was 11.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Insurance and financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries), 1978–2024
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service exports.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) recorded 11.5% for insurance and financial services in 2024.
That represents a change of down 5.6% on the previous year and up 110.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, insurance and financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) peaked at 12.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 3.7%, in 2003.
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 7th of 45 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 47 years of available data.
Insurance and financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries), year by year
| Year | % of commercial service exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 7.7% | — |
| 1979 | 7.1% | -7.1% |
| 1980 | 6.6% | -7.6% |
| 1981 | 6.9% | +4.3% |
| 1982 | 6.6% | -4.5% |
| 1983 | 4.3% | -34.7% |
| 1984 | 4.8% | +13.0% |
| 1985 | 7.3% | +51.5% |
| 1986 | 6.8% | -7.6% |
| 1987 | 6.4% | -5.8% |
| 1988 | 5.5% | -13.3% |
| 1989 | 4.7% | -15.8% |
| 1990 | 5.4% | +15.9% |
| 1991 | 4.9% | -9.0% |
| 1992 | 5.4% | +9.5% |
| 1993 | 4.7% | -11.8% |
| 1994 | 5.1% | +7.0% |
| 1995 | 5.6% | +10.2% |
| 1996 | 5.4% | -2.7% |
| 1997 | 5.1% | -5.8% |
| 1998 | 5.3% | +3.4% |
| 1999 | 5.5% | +4.0% |
| 2000 | 5.8% | +4.5% |
| 2001 | 5.3% | -8.2% |
| 2002 | 3.8% | -27.3% |
| 2003 | 3.7% | -3.6% |
| 2004 | 4.5% | +20.3% |
| 2005 | 6.1% | +36.7% |
| 2006 | 5.3% | -12.7% |
| 2007 | 5.7% | +6.8% |
| 2008 | 4.8% | -15.1% |
| 2009 | 5.2% | +7.6% |
| 2010 | 5.2% | -0.0% |
| 2011 | 4.9% | -5.6% |
| 2012 | 6.0% | +23.1% |
| 2013 | 4.8% | -20.1% |
| 2014 | 5.5% | +13.7% |
| 2015 | 7.3% | +32.8% |
| 2016 | 7.4% | +1.3% |
| 2017 | 7.0% | -4.9% |
| 2018 | 9.2% | +31.4% |
| 2019 | 8.2% | -10.9% |
| 2020 | 12.6% | +53.9% |
| 2021 | 12.6% | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 10.3% | -18.1% |
| 2023 | 12.2% | +18.0% |
| 2024 | 11.5% | -5.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 7.4% | 7.1% | 7.7% | 2 |
| 1980s | 6.0% | 4.3% | 7.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.2% | 4.7% | 5.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.0% | 3.7% | 6.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.5% | 4.8% | 9.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.9% | 10.3% | 12.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
- 4 Cayman Islands 55.2% compare
- 5 Sierra Leone 32.7% compare
- 6 Bahrain 31.3% compare
- 7 Hong Kong 26.9% compare
- 8 Nigeria 25.3% compare
- 9 United Kingdom 25.2% compare
- 10 Guinea-Bissau 21.6% compare
More private sector data for Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
- Merchandise trade 44.5% (2025)
- Food imports 12.1% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 56.8% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 501.15 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 14.7% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 19.4% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 486.80 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 368.33 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2201 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 11.24 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is insurance and financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Insurance and financial services in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) was 11.5% in 2024, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest insurance and financial services recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The highest recorded value was 12.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest insurance and financial services recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.7% in 2003.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) rank for insurance and financial services?
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) ranks 7th out of 45 groups with data for 2024.
- Is insurance and financial services rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 110.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
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 exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.