Insurance and Financial Services Share of Service Imports by Country

World Bank indicator BM.GSR.INSF.ZS measures insurance and financial services as a percentage of service imports on a balance-of-payments basis. Service imports are services supplied by nonresidents to residents. The category includes insurance services plus financial intermediary and auxiliary services exchanged between residents and nonresidents. The latest non-empty file contains 199 observations, including 96 from 2025, so the main same-year comparison uses those 96 economies.

The denominator is service imports, not total imports

A value of 15% means insurance and financial services account for about 15% of recorded service imports. Merchandise imports are outside the denominator, so the indicator should not be described as a percentage of all imports.

Service imports can include travel, transport, telecommunications, business services, intellectual-property charges, and other categories. This ratio shows the composition of that service-import basket.

What insurance and financial services cover

The World Bank description includes various types of insurance supplied across borders between resident and nonresident parties, as well as financial intermediary and auxiliary services exchanged between residents and nonresidents.

The category is therefore broader than insurance premiums alone. It is also different from bank deposits, domestic financial assets, insurance penetration, or the size of the domestic financial sector.

It is not a measure of finance’s share of GDP

A high share of service imports does not mean finance represents a large share of domestic GDP. The denominator is imported services, not national output.

Likewise, a low ratio does not show that the domestic financial system is underdeveloped. An economy may produce many financial services domestically or import large amounts of other services, both of which can reduce the ratio.

The 2025 mean is 8.10% and the median is 6.48%

The 2025 subset contains 96 economies. Its mean is 8.10% and median 6.48%. The first quartile is 3.67% and the third quartile 10.48%, placing the middle half roughly between 3.67% and 10.48%.

62 observations are at least 5%, 30 are at least 10%, 1 reaches 20% or more, and 1 reaches 30% or more. At the lower end, 6 are below 2%.

Luxembourg is highest in 2025 at 49.24%

Luxembourg records 49.24%, followed by the United States at 19.70%, Tajikistan at 19.13%, St. Kitts and Nevis at 18.38%, Congo, Dem. Rep. at 18.25%, Trinidad and Tobago at 17.88%, Panama at 17.51%, and Cyprus at 17.00%.

Luxembourg’s result means insurance and financial services occupy a large share of its service-import composition. It does not by itself identify the absolute value of those imports, domestic financial assets, insurance-market size, or bank profitability.

North Macedonia is lowest in 2025 at 1.12%

At the lower end, North Macedonia records 1.12%, Israel 1.44%, Russian Federation 1.57%, Montenegro 1.58%, Serbia 1.64%, and Moldova 1.89%. Kiribati, Estonia, and Suriname are also close to 2%.

A low share means insurance and financial services are a small component of service imports. Other imported services may dominate, or the economy may import relatively few financial and insurance services. The ratio alone cannot identify the cause.

Bahrain and Cayman Islands exceed 30% in the 2024 group

The 2024 subset contains 65 economies, with a mean of 7.87% and a median of 6.45%. Bahrain records 34.96%, Cayman Islands 30.25%, Macao SAR, China 21.32%, Gambia, The 19.78%, and Iraq 19.10%.

The difference between 2024 and 2025 averages should not be treated as a global trend because the sets of economies differ. A time comparison requires matched countries across consecutive years.

A percentage is different from an absolute import value

A 20% share can occur in an economy with a small service-import bill, while a large economy with a 5% share can import more insurance and financial services in dollar terms.

Absolute insurance and financial service imports are required for scale comparisons. The ratio answers a composition question rather than a monetary-size question.

Import-side and export-side financial services point in opposite directions

Service imports are supplied by nonresidents to residents. Service exports are supplied by residents to nonresidents. An economy with a high import share does not automatically have a high export share.

Financial centers can participate strongly in both directions, but the two flows remain separate balance-of-payments transactions and should be analyzed independently.

Comparing travel imports helps reveal different service-import structures

Travel-service imports are linked to residents acquiring goods and services while visiting other economies. Insurance and financial-service imports reflect cross-border insurance and financial transactions.

An economy can have a high travel share and a low finance share, or the reverse. Looking across service categories provides a more complete view of external service demand.

A high ratio is not automatically foreign financial dependence

A large ratio can reflect strong demand for imported financial and insurance services, but it can also result from a relatively small denominator in other service categories. Ratios move with both numerator and denominator.

Assessing external financial dependence requires additional data on domestic financial production, cross-border assets and liabilities, absolute import values, and the structure of the financial system.

The 199 latest observations span 1988–2025

The latest-observation file contains 199 rows spanning 1988–2025. The two largest groups are 2025 with 96 economies and 2024 with 65. A small number of economies retain final observations from the 1990s or 2000s.

The complete file should therefore not be presented as a single-year 2025 ranking of 199 economies. The 2025 subset provides the cleanest direct comparison, while the full table is an inventory of each economy’s latest non-empty observation.

The map draws 162 economies in the low-resolution boundaries

The featured map uses all 199 latest observations, and 162, about 81.4%, match polygons in the low-resolution world boundary file. Small islands and territories without polygons remain in the complete table.

The map is best used for broad regional patterns. Exact values for small economies should be read from the tables because boundary coverage is incomplete.

Complete list of the 199 latest observations

The table below lists the latest non-empty observation for every economy and territory in alphabetical order. The observation year should be read alongside the percentage, especially for older rows.

How to interpret the comparison

First, the denominator is service imports on a balance-of-payments basis, not all imports. Second, the ratio is not insurance penetration or finance’s share of GDP. Third, a percentage is not an absolute import value. Fourth, service imports and service exports have opposite transaction directions.

Fifth, a high ratio should not be treated automatically as evidence of financial development or foreign dependence. Sixth, the 199 latest observations mix years, so direct rankings and distribution statistics center on the 96 observations from 2025.

Source and calculation

The source is World Bank World Development Indicators BM.GSR.INSF.ZS, Insurance and financial services (% of service imports, BoP). The 2025 mean, median, quartiles, threshold counts, and rankings use only the 96 observations dated 2025. The map and complete table use each economy’s latest non-empty observation.

Frequently Asked Questions

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