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Topic 12 of 18 · Country Index 2026

São Tomé and Príncipe: Mobility & Trade

How connected is a country to the rest of the world?

São Tomé and Príncipe is placed 174th of 177 countries on mobility & trade in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Liner Shipping Connectivity Index 13.5 (2025); Container Import Dwell Time 10 (2024).

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Mobility & Trade

174th

of 177 countries placed

Placed from 2 of 4 key statistics

Country Index 2026, all topics115th of 183 →

01The evidence

The 4 key statistics that decide it

Only these place São Tomé and Príncipe on mobility & trade — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.

Why these keys

  1. Key 1 of 4

    Liner Shipping Connectivity Index

    UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

    Why it is a key: How much of the world's container shipping actually calls at a country's ports — the infrastructure side of connectedness, where logistics performance is the paperwork side.

    2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY 3.0 IGO

    13.5

    LSCI (index, average Q1 2023 = 100)

    Higher is better

    Ranked 158th of 177 by UNCTAD

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 13.5. Across the 168 countries in this edition, values run from 4.13 (Turks and Caicos Islands) to 1,313 (China); the world median is 60.84.

    World median
    60.84
    Best in Middle Africa
    102.63 Cameroon

    Each grey tick is one of 168 countries in the 2025 edition.

  2. Key 2 of 4

    Container Import Dwell Time

    World Bank Group

    Why it is a key: How long an imported container waits in port before it moves on — a measured, not surveyed, reading of how efficiently ports, customs and carriers let goods cross a border.

    2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0

    10

    Median days a full import container waits in port

    Lower is better

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 10. Across the 156 countries in this edition, values run from 1 (Gibraltar) to 21.6 (Haiti); the world median is 4.4.

    World median
    4.4
    Best in Middle Africa
    3.6 Angola

    Each grey tick is one of 156 countries in the 2024 edition.

  3. Key 3 of 4

    Logistics Performance Index

    World Bank Group

    Why it is a key: How efficiently goods actually cross a country's borders, ports and customs.

    2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 4.0

    No reading

    LPI score (1–5)

    Higher is better

    World Bank Group publishes no 2023 figure for São Tomé and Príncipe, so the standing rests on the other keys.

    Across the 139 countries in this edition, values run from 1.9 (Afghanistan) to 4.3 (Singapore); the world median is 2.9.

    World median
    2.9
    Best in Middle Africa
    2.6 Republic of the Congo

    Each grey tick is one of 139 countries in the 2023 edition.

  4. Key 4 of 4

    ICT Goods Exports

    UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

    Why it is a key: How far a country is plugged into global technology trade.

    2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO

    No reading

    ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports)

    Higher is better

    UNCTAD publishes no 2024 figure for São Tomé and Príncipe, so the standing rests on the other keys.

    Across the 120 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Gambia) to 61.45 (Hong Kong); the world median is 0.975.

    World median
    0.975
    Best in Middle Africa
    3.47 Central African Republic

    Each grey tick is one of 120 countries in the 2024 edition.

03In context

São Tomé and Príncipe beside its neighbours

A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 177 countries on mobility & trade, never a place within the region.

Middle Africa
1st177thNot placed · 47 countries with too few key statisticsNo data

The whole world on mobility & trade

São Tomé and Príncipe and Middle Africa

São Tomé and Príncipe has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. The standing is each country’s place among all 177 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.

CountryStandingLiner Shipping Connectivity IndexLSCI (index, average Q1 2023 = 100)Container Import Dwell TimeMedian days a full import container waits in portLogistics Performance IndexLPI score (1–5)ICT Goods ExportsICT goods exports (% of total goods exports)
Central African Republic86th——2.53.47
Republic of the Congo114th88.047.42.6—
Equatorial Guinea115th33.665——
Angola=136th66.693.62.10.05
Cameroon148th102.6314.12.1—
Gabon160th32.319.42.4—
DR Congo167th22.94162.5—
São Tomé and Príncipe174th13.510——
Chadnot placed————

“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.

Placed either side on mobility & trade

The countries immediately above and below São Tomé and Príncipe in the topic’s list.

04Context, no vote

Where São Tomé and Príncipe is ahead of the world, and behind

16 more statistics filed under mobility & trade, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.

Every country

Ahead of the world median1

Statistics on which São Tomé and Príncipe does better than the middle country measured.

  • Freedom of Foreign MovementV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 2025 · world median 1.22.154▲ Improved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 2.154 · world median 1.2 · Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +2.9); higher = freer movement. V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from -3.642 to 2.727; higher is better.

    Position 34th of 176 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

Behind the world median2

Statistics on which São Tomé and Príncipe does worse than the middle country measured.

  • Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness IndexOECD · 2025 · world median 0.2060.228▲ Improved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 0.228 · world median 0.206 · Digital STRI (0 = open, 1 = closed). OECD, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.021 to 0.649; lower is better.

    Position 54th of 125 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Average Time to Clear Exports Through CustomsWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 4.4568.583No earlier reading

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 8.583 · world median 4.456 · Average time to clear exports through customs (days). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 1 to 27.46; lower is better.

    Position 39th of 174 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

No better end13

These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.

  • Terms of Trade IndexUNCTAD · 2025 · world median 103.23141.54Moved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 141.54 · world median 103.23 · Terms of trade index (2015 = 100). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 38.2 to 1,448.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Export Concentration IndexUNCTAD · 2025 · world median 0.3060.496Moved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 0.496 · world median 0.306 · Export concentration index (0–1, normalised Herfindahl–Hirschman). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.059 to 0.933.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Commodity Export DependenceUNCTAD · 2024 · world median 67.1767.15Moved since 2014

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 67.15 · world median 67.17 · Commodity exports (% of merchandise exports, three-year average). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 4.605 to 99.77.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Services ExportsUNCTAD · 2025 · world median 9.6029.045Moved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 9.045 · world median 9.602 · Services exports (% of GDP). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.085 to 166.21.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Imports of Goods and Services (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 41.7233.3Moved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 33.3 · world median 41.72 · Imports of goods and services (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 1.279 to 196.89.

    Position 87th of 138 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • EmigrantsUN DESA Population Division · 2024 · world median 444,45141,433No real change since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 41,433 · world median 444,451 · Migrants from the country living abroad, mid-year (people). UN DESA Population Division, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 313 to 18,533,845.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Net Migration RateUN DESA Population Division · 2023 · world median -0.133-2.564Moved since 2013

    São Tomé and Príncipe: -2.564 · world median -0.133 · Net migrants per 1,000 population. UN DESA Population Division, 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from -61.68 to 39.62.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Trade (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 79.6846.57Moved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 46.57 · world median 79.68 · Exports plus imports (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 2.382 to 396.65.

    Position 109th of 138 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • International Migrants as a Share of PopulationUN DESA Population Division · 2024 · world median 6.0890.83Moved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 0.83 · world median 6.089 · International migrants (% of population). UN DESA Population Division, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.02 to 100.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Foreign Value Added Share of Gross ExportsOECD · 2022 · world median 27.4110.5Moved since 2012

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 10.5 · world median 27.41 · Foreign value added (% of gross exports). OECD, 2022 edition, data for 2022.

    Published values in that edition run from 4.491 to 66.08.

    Chart and every countryThe 2022 dataset

  • Exports of Goods and Services (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 36.3413.26Moved since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 13.26 · world median 36.34 · Exports of goods and services (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 1.103 to 199.76.

    Position 129th of 138 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Merchant Fleet by Country of OwnershipUNCTAD · 2026 · world median 275.730Moved since 2016

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 0 · world median 275.73 · Merchant fleet owned (thousand dead-weight tons). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2026 edition, data for 2026.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 397,071.

    Chart and every countryThe 2026 dataset

  • International MigrantsUN DESA Population Division · 2024 · world median 223,3231,955No real change since 2015

    São Tomé and Príncipe: 1,955 · world median 223,323 · International migrants living in the country, mid-year (people). UN DESA Population Division, 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 246 to 52,375,047.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

No current reading for São Tomé and Príncipe

Asylum-Seekers by Country of Asylum, Cereal Import Dependency Ratio (last 2015), Container Port Traffic (last 2019), Cost of Sending Remittances, Creative Goods Exports (last 2023), Creative Services Exports (last 2022), Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports (last 2022), FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index, ICT Goods Exports (last 2023), ICT Services Exports (last 2022), Inbound Mobility Rate, Tertiary, Logistics Performance Index (last 2018), Outbound Mobility Ratio, Tertiary (last 2015), Refugee Population by Country of Asylum and Tariff Rate, Applied, Weighted Mean, All Products (last 2019). Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.

05Country Index 2026

Mobility & Trade among São Tomé and Príncipe’s 15 topics

Mobility & Trade is São Tomé and Príncipe’s 15th best-placed topic of 15. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.

On the profile
  1. Environment & Sustainability2nd of 186
  2. Peace & Security37th of 177
  3. Risk & Resiliencejoint 59th of 193
  4. Democracy & Civil Libertiesjoint 62nd of 198
  5. Gender & Equality61st of 183
  6. Health & Wellbeingjoint 110th of 200
  7. Education & Knowledgejoint 114th of 198
  8. Governance & Institutionsjoint 127th of 194
  9. Food & Agriculture121st of 184
  10. Development & Human Capitaljoint 136th of 196
  11. Poverty & Inequalityjoint 125th of 159
  12. Economy & Innovation149th of 176
  13. Work & Labour165th of 182
  14. Digital & Technology181st of 198
  15. Mobility & Trade174th of 177

No standing on Energy: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.

06The top of the list

Who leads on mobility & trade

The three countries placed highest of 177, and the leaders São Tomé and Príncipe can most readily be measured against.

All 177 countries
  1. 1

    Singapore

    South-eastern Asia

    1st of 177 · 4 of 4 keys

    Photo: Khairul Nizam . · CC BY 2.0, greyscale

  2. 2

    Macau

    Eastern Asia

    2nd of 177 · 2 of 4 keys

    Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

  3. 3

    Hong Kong

    Eastern Asia

    3rd of 177 · 4 of 4 keys

    Photo: Base64 and Derivative work by Globe-trotter · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

Placed highest nearby

  1. Highest in Africa

    South Africa39th4/4 keys

  2. Highest in Middle Africa

    Central African Republic86th2/4 keys

  3. This page

    São Tomé and Príncipe174th2/4 keys

Positions out of 177 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.

07Analysis

Charts and analysis about São Tomé and Príncipe and mobility & trade

All charts

08Questions

São Tomé and Príncipe on mobility & trade: questions answered

Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.

How does São Tomé and Príncipe rank on mobility & trade?

São Tomé and Príncipe is placed 174th of 177 countries on Mobility & Trade in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 4 key statistics (Liner Shipping Connectivity Index and Container Import Dwell Time). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.

What is the latest Liner Shipping Connectivity Index figure for São Tomé and Príncipe?

13.5 in 2025 (lSCI (index, average Q1 2023 = 100)), according to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The world median in the same edition was 60.84.

What is the latest Container Import Dwell Time figure for São Tomé and Príncipe?

10 in 2024 (median days a full import container waits in port), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 4.4.

How have São Tomé and Príncipe’s mobility & trade figures changed?

Liner Shipping Connectivity Index rose from 11.83 in 2006 to 13.5 in 2026; Logistics Performance Index fell from 2.859 in 2007 to 2.653 in 2018; ICT Goods Exports rose from 0 in 2002 to 0.12 in 2023.

Which mobility & trade statistics are missing for São Tomé and Príncipe?

No current reading is published for São Tomé and Príncipe on Asylum-Seekers by Country of Asylum, Cereal Import Dependency Ratio, Container Port Traffic, Cost of Sending Remittances, Creative Goods Exports, Creative Services Exports, Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports, FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index, ICT Goods Exports, ICT Services Exports, Inbound Mobility Rate, Tertiary, Logistics Performance Index, Outbound Mobility Ratio, Tertiary, Refugee Population by Country of Asylum and Tariff Rate, Applied, Weighted Mean, All Products. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.

09Keep reading

Explore further

Mobility & Trade

São Tomé and Príncipe, topic by topic

10Method

Method, sources and how to cite

What this topic does not measure

Passport strength and freedom of movement for people are not measured with a key, because the data behind passport rankings is not licensed for reuse here. Trade as a share of the economy, remittance costs and student mobility are published here as context.

About mobility & trade, in full

How the Mobility & Trade standing is decided, step by step

A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.

  1. A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 29 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
  2. Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2023 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
  3. Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
  4. Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
  5. The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
  6. A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 177 countries clear the bar here.
  7. A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
  8. A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.

The key statistics and their licences

The other 16 statistics on this page come from 5 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.

The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Photographs

São Tomé and Príncipe’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). São Tomé and Príncipe: Mobility & Trade — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/sao-tome-and-principe/mobility

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