Transport services in United States of America
United States of America: Transport services was 17.8% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Transport services in United States of America, 1970–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service imports.
Analysis
United States of America recorded 17.8% for transport services in 2025.
The figure is down 6.5% on the previous year and down 15.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, transport services in United States of America peaked at 53.2% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 16.3%, in 2020.
That places United States of America 161st out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
Transport services in United States of America, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 44.5% | — |
| 1971 | 44.3% | -0.4% |
| 1972 | 44.4% | +0.3% |
| 1973 | 47.8% | +7.5% |
| 1974 | 51.4% | +7.7% |
| 1975 | 48.5% | -5.6% |
| 1976 | 50.2% | +3.3% |
| 1977 | 52.4% | +4.5% |
| 1978 | 51.7% | -1.5% |
| 1979 | 52.7% | +2.0% |
| 1980 | 53.2% | +1.0% |
| 1981 | 53.0% | -0.4% |
| 1982 | 44.4% | -16.2% |
| 1983 | 46.1% | +3.7% |
| 1984 | 38.9% | -15.6% |
| 1985 | 38.6% | -0.7% |
| 1986 | 37.7% | -2.4% |
| 1987 | 35.8% | -5.0% |
| 1988 | 35.6% | -0.7% |
| 1989 | 35.9% | +0.9% |
| 1990 | 36.4% | +1.4% |
| 1991 | 35.3% | -3.0% |
| 1992 | 33.5% | -5.2% |
| 1993 | 33.1% | -1.2% |
| 1994 | 32.8% | -0.9% |
| 1995 | 32.7% | -0.3% |
| 1996 | 31.4% | -3.9% |
| 1997 | 31.3% | -0.2% |
| 1998 | 30.6% | -2.3% |
| 1999 | 27.3% | -10.7% |
| 2000 | 28.4% | +3.7% |
| 2001 | 27.4% | -3.5% |
| 2002 | 25.9% | -5.5% |
| 2003 | 26.7% | +3.2% |
| 2004 | 27.2% | +1.9% |
| 2005 | 27.7% | +1.6% |
| 2006 | 25.6% | -7.6% |
| 2007 | 24.1% | -5.8% |
| 2008 | 23.7% | -1.7% |
| 2009 | 20.2% | -15.0% |
| 2010 | 21.9% | +8.4% |
| 2011 | 22.3% | +1.9% |
| 2012 | 22.5% | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 21.4% | -4.6% |
| 2014 | 21.4% | -0.3% |
| 2015 | 20.9% | -2.3% |
| 2016 | 18.8% | -10.0% |
| 2017 | 19.3% | +2.9% |
| 2018 | 20.3% | +5.1% |
| 2019 | 19.6% | -3.8% |
| 2020 | 16.3% | -16.6% |
| 2021 | 19.5% | +19.8% |
| 2022 | 23.1% | +18.1% |
| 2023 | 19.6% | -15.1% |
| 2024 | 19.0% | -3.0% |
| 2025 | 17.8% | -6.5% |
United States of America compared with similar countries
- United States of America's 17.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 20.2%, 88% of the median. (72 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 48.8% | 44.3% | 52.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 41.9% | 35.6% | 53.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 32.4% | 27.3% | 36.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 25.7% | 20.2% | 28.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.8% | 18.8% | 22.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.2% | 16.3% | 23.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States of America
More private sector data for United States of America
- Merchandise trade 18.5% (2025)
- Food imports 6.9% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 78.4% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 3.51 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 9.5% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 55.7% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 2.19 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 6,394 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.071 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 5.99 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is transport services in United States of America?
- Transport services in United States of America was 17.8% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest transport services recorded in United States of America?
- The highest recorded value was 53.2% in 1980.
- What is the lowest transport services recorded in United States of America?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.3% in 2020.
- How does United States of America rank for transport services?
- United States of America ranks 161st out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is transport services rising or falling in United States of America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States of America data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Transport services (% of commercial service imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Transport is the process of carriage of people and objects from one location to another as well as related supporting and auxiliary services. Also included are postal and courier services. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to residents.