Trade in services by category

by Sonia Blachier · June 7, 2021

Map 1. Growth in services exports by category, 2016–2021

(Average annual growth rate*, percentage)

Note: Europe includes the Russian Federation and the French overseas departments.
* Least squares growth rate (see Calculation methods page).

Regional trends over the last five years

International trade in services was more severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic than merchandise trade. Among services, travel and transport were most affected. Owing to a renewed demand for goods, transport recovered rapidly and strongly in 2021, especially in Asia and Europe. By contrast, travel, particularly long-distance travel, continued to suffer, pinning the five-year average growth rate of global international travel receipts to -16 per cent.

From 2016 to 2019, services trade enjoyed growth across main services categories on all continents. Africa’s travel exports rose substantially, while other regions registered solid gains in telecommunications and computer services. Financial, insurance, business, and intellectual property services rose globally before and then remained afloat during the pandemic. Expectedly, telecommunications and computer services’ exports grew during the pandemic, especially in Europe and Asia.

Figure 1. Annual growth rate of services exports, 2021

(Percentage)

Global trends by service category in 2021

Figure 2. Structure of services exports, 2021

(Percentage)

Among main service categories, transport exports recorded the highest annual growth in 2021 (+35 per cent). They were followed by exports of telecommunications, computer, and information services, which rose by 19 per cent. After plummeting by over 60 per cent in 2020, travel recovered just partially during 2021, rising by 11 per cent. This sector remained particularly significant in services trade of Africa and developing America. Transport and travel together accounted for over half of their services exports. In developed economies, travel and transport represented one quarter of total services sold abroad.

Telecommunications, computer, and information services

In 2021, 73 per cent of global services were supplied from developed economies, whose exports were dominated by insurance, financial, intellectual property, telecommunications, computer, and other business services. Telecommunications, computer, and information services continued to build on the strong demand during the pandemic. Globally, they expanded by 19 per cent in 2021, more than double their growth from the year before. African exports of those services were 14 per cent higher in 2021 than in 2020. With 20 per cent growth, American developing economies caught up with the increasing trend in other regions for this service category. These services often underpin intra-firm collaboration, business-to-business and business-to-clients connectivity, and digital trade.

Figure 3. Growth of exports of telecommunications, computer, and information services, by group of economies, 2019–2021

(Percentage)

Concepts and definitions

The breakdown by service category in this section has been built from the division of services in the balance of payments statistics, known as the 2010 Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS 20102010 Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification) -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-. For the correspondence to the EBOPS 2010 categories and to the main groups presented in UNCTADstat, see Classifications page.

The presented trade-in-services figures are jointly compiled by UNCTAD and WTOWorld Trade Organization.

Summary tables

Table 1. Trade in services by service category and group of economies

World

Note: Exports do not equal imports at world level, due to imperfect geographical coverage and cross-country differences in compilation methods.

Developed economies

Developing economies

Developing economies: Africa

Developing economies: Americas

Developing economies: Asia and Oceania

Table 2. Exports of selected services, by region, 2021

(Millions of United States dollars)

References

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.