Kenya - Transport services (% of commercial service imports)

The value for Transport services (% of commercial service imports) in Kenya was 36.39 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 45 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 76.91 in 1982 and a minimum value of 36.24 in 2017.

Definition: Transport services (% of commercial service imports) covers all transport services (sea, air, land, internal waterway, space, and pipeline) performed by residents of one economy for those of another and involving the carriage of passengers, movement of goods (freight), rental of carriers with crew, and related support and auxiliary services. Excluded are freight insurance, which is included in insurance services; goods procured in ports by nonresident carriers and repairs of transport equipment, which are included in goods; repairs of railway facilities, harbors, and airfield facilities, which are included in construction services; and rental of carriers without crew, which is included in other services.

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

See also:

Year Value
1975 73.67
1976 65.78
1977 67.41
1978 67.36
1979 72.59
1980 71.99
1981 74.78
1982 76.91
1983 72.71
1984 72.28
1985 73.43
1986 74.18
1987 70.38
1988 70.71
1989 72.39
1990 66.19
1991 66.97
1992 63.79
1993 49.78
1994 42.46
1995 45.21
1996 42.33
1997 42.37
1998 43.99
1999 52.37
2000 49.78
2001 42.46
2002 45.21
2003 42.33
2004 42.35
2005 44.01
2006 53.61
2007 51.88
2008 50.12
2009 50.99
2010 49.47
2011 54.25
2012 57.65
2013 56.71
2014 49.17
2015 46.50
2016 38.29
2017 36.24
2018 38.63
2019 40.30
2020 36.39

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

Classification

Topic: Private Sector & Trade Indicators

Sub-Topic: Imports