International Services Trade: Key Indicators

International Services Trade: Key Indicators

This map includes a collection of 8 different key indicators on services trade from the UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics 2023.



Services trade encompasses the exchange of intangible services between countries, including areas like tourism, financial services, education, and healthcare. Unlike merchandise trade, it doesn't involve the physical movement of goods, but rather the value generated from various service activities.



In understanding global services trade, we look at the exchange of services between countries. This includes services sold by a country (exports) and services bought from others (imports). The trade balance is the difference between these exports and imports. A country has a surplus if it sells more than it buys, and a deficit if it buys more than it sells.



The map shows the value (in millions of US$) in 2021 and 2022 of services exports and imports for different economies. It also shows the annual growth rate from 2021 to 2022, as well as each economy's share of the world total.



In 2022, the value of global services exports rose by 14.8%, reaching $7.1 trillion, according to the UNCTAD data.

• All groups of economies witnessed a robust recovery in services trade from the downturn experienced in 2020 due to the pandemic.
• The most significant relative increase was observed in American developing economies. The sectors of travel and transport played a crucial role in this resurgence, having more ground to regain post-pandemic.
• The United States continued to lead as the world's top services exporter, with a significant $929 billion worth of services sold internationally, holding a 13% share of the global market. The United Kingdom followed as a distant second with exports worth $494 billion. China ranked third globally with $424 billion in services exports



This text was written with the assistance of ChatGPT 4.