Today's Edition
GENEVA (WAM)
World commercial services trade grew 9% in 2023 despite a decline in freight transport, thanks to recovering international travel and surging digitally delivered services, according to the April 2024 edition of the WTO’s “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics”.
In 2024, sports events will be held in Europe in the summer and the easing of visa requirements by various countries is expected to boost tourism and passenger transport.
Global exports of digitally delivered services soared to $4.25 trillion in 2023, up 9.0% year-on-year, and accounted for 13.8% of world exports of goods and services. In 2023, the value of these services — traded over borders through computer networks and encompassing everything from professional and management services to streaming music and videos, online gaming, and remote education — surpassed pre-pandemic levels by over 50%.
In Europe and Asia, which hold a global market share of 52.4% and 23.8% respectively, exports rose by 11% and 9%. Growth accelerated in Africa (13%), South and Central America, and the Caribbean (11%), exceeding the global average. The two regions, which formed only 0.9% and 1.6% of global exports in 2023, are on the path to taking advantage of digitally delivered services trade.
In 2023, business, professional, and technical services accounted for 41.2% of world exports of digitally delivered services (see Chart 21), followed by computer services (20.5%), financial services (16.0%), intellectual property-related services (10.9%), insurance and pension services (5.2%), telecommunications services (2.6%), audio-visual and other personal, cultural, and recreational services (2.1%), and information services (1.5%).
The WTO’s “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics” analyses recent global trade developments up to the fourth quarter of 2023 and presents the organisation’s forecasts for world trade in 2024 and 2025.
