Travel services in South Africa
South Africa: Travel services was 38.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Travel services in South Africa, 1960–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service exports.
Analysis
The most recent figure for travel services in South Africa is 38.5%, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 3.7% on the previous year and down 29.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in South Africa peaked at 67.4% in 2003 and was at its lowest, 23.4%, in 2021.
South Africa ranks 98th of 198 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Travel services in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 64.6% | — |
| 1961 | 65.6% | +1.5% |
| 1962 | 63.3% | -3.4% |
| 1963 | 63.2% | -0.1% |
| 1964 | 61.8% | -2.3% |
| 1965 | 61.4% | -0.6% |
| 1966 | 61.1% | -0.4% |
| 1967 | 58.9% | -3.7% |
| 1968 | 57.2% | -2.8% |
| 1969 | 57.8% | +1.1% |
| 1970 | 57.8% | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 60.0% | +3.8% |
| 1972 | 57.1% | -4.9% |
| 1973 | 58.4% | +2.3% |
| 1974 | 59.6% | +2.1% |
| 1975 | 61.2% | +2.7% |
| 1976 | 58.6% | -4.2% |
| 1977 | 58.6% | -0.1% |
| 1978 | 56.3% | -4.0% |
| 1979 | 55.4% | -1.7% |
| 1980 | 56.8% | +2.6% |
| 1981 | 56.5% | -0.6% |
| 1982 | 56.8% | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 64.1% | +12.9% |
| 1984 | 63.0% | -1.7% |
| 1985 | 56.1% | -10.9% |
| 1986 | 55.1% | -1.7% |
| 1987 | 60.4% | +9.6% |
| 1988 | 62.8% | +4.0% |
| 1989 | 58.3% | -7.2% |
| 1990 | 55.3% | -5.1% |
| 1991 | 60.6% | +9.5% |
| 1992 | 56.4% | -6.9% |
| 1993 | 59.7% | +5.8% |
| 1994 | 58.0% | -2.8% |
| 1995 | 48.2% | -17.0% |
| 1996 | 53.9% | +12.0% |
| 1997 | 54.7% | +1.4% |
| 1998 | 54.8% | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 55.5% | +1.4% |
| 2000 | 54.8% | -1.4% |
| 2001 | 54.3% | -0.8% |
| 2002 | 58.6% | +7.8% |
| 2003 | 67.4% | +15.0% |
| 2004 | 65.4% | -2.9% |
| 2005 | 65.0% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 64.8% | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 61.4% | -5.2% |
| 2008 | 59.4% | -3.2% |
| 2009 | 60.5% | +1.8% |
| 2010 | 57.5% | -4.9% |
| 2011 | 55.7% | -3.1% |
| 2012 | 57.3% | +2.8% |
| 2013 | 55.3% | -3.4% |
| 2014 | 55.5% | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 54.5% | -1.9% |
| 2016 | 54.3% | -0.2% |
| 2017 | 54.6% | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 53.8% | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 53.9% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 31.0% | -42.5% |
| 2021 | 23.4% | -24.7% |
| 2022 | 37.5% | +60.7% |
| 2023 | 40.0% | +6.6% |
| 2024 | 40.0% | -0.1% |
| 2025 | 38.5% | -3.7% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 38.5% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 48.7%, 79% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 38.5% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 46.4%, 83% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel services in South Africa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +60.7% | 23.4% | 37.5% |
| 2020 | -42.5% | 53.9% | 31.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 61.5% | 57.2% | 65.6% | 10 |
| 1970s | 58.3% | 55.4% | 61.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 59.0% | 55.1% | 64.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 55.7% | 48.2% | 60.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 61.1% | 54.3% | 67.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 55.2% | 53.8% | 57.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 35.1% | 23.4% | 40.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More private sector data for South Africa
- Merchandise trade 57.2% (2025)
- Food imports 7.2% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 62.1% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 128.08 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 12.8% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 38.3% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 116.40 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,798 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2725 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 5.74 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in South Africa?
- Travel services in South Africa was 38.5% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 67.4% in 2003.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 23.4% in 2021.
- How does South Africa rank for travel services?
- South Africa ranks 98th out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 29.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Travel services (% of commercial service exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.