The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 31 July launched a new dataset – which you can download free of charge - covering the services exports and imports of 200 economies from 2005 to 2017. It features the first-ever comprehensive estimate of how much services are traded by sector through the four modes of supply as defined in the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
The experimental dataset, which uses both official figures and estimates for missing data, provides for each economy and sector estimates of how much services are traded through the four modes of supply.
As defined in the GATS, the four modes of trading services are through cross-border supply such as through the internet, consumption abroad such as tourism, commercial presence of an enterprise such as establishing an affiliate in a foreign country to serve the local market, and individuals travelling from their own country to supply services in another such as consultants.
A further explanation on the four modes of supply is available here. The 200 economies covered by the dataset includes all WTO members and observers. A worldwide FATS output dataset is also available, covering 200 economies, 13 service sectors and the period 2005-2017.
Story by: Riaan de Lange