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In the OECD, service exports in 2005 accounted for some 22.2% of total exports of goods and services and 17.2 % of current account credits. These proportions are very similar to those in 2004 (22.0% and 17.9% respectively). The total service exports of the member countries was 1.90 trillion USD in 2005 (approximately 76% of total World services exports) compared with 6.66 trillion USD for OECD goods exports.
OECD service imports in 2005 accounted for 19.6% of total goods and services imports and 15.4% of the current account debits. The total service imports were 1.77 trillion USD (approximately 72.2% of total World services imports) and OECD imports of goods were 7.25 trillion USD.
The relatively minor role for services in international trade is in contrast to the contribution of services in the domestic economies of member countries, where the proportion of total value-added contributed by services is around 70% and rising.
Why then are services more difficult to trade internationally? For many services a physical proximity between supplier and customer is essential, for example hotels, hairdressing and industrial cleaning. It is also one of the characteristics of those entities usually described as services that they cannot be traded separately from their production. Consequently many service producers find it necessary to establish a commercial presence in countries they wish to trade in, in order to be close to their customers. An OECD publication, Measuring Globalisation: The Role of Multinationals in OECD Economies, Volume II: Services addresses this area of foreign affiliates trade in services. This kind of activity goes beyond the balance of payments concept of trade addressed in this publication.
Within balance of payments trade in services, which services are growing fastest? OECD service exports and imports have been growing at respectively 9.8% and 9.3% per year on average in current dollars since 2000. See chart 1 and related data. See Chart 1 and related data
It is estimated that the fastest growing OECD service exports in the period 2000-2005 were computer and information services (16.3% per year), financial services and insurance services - see charts. While in the same period the fastest growing OECD service imports were insurance services, government services, computer and information services and other business services.
OECD exports growing the slowest in the period 2000-2005 were personal, cultural and recreational services (4.5% per year), travel and construction. For OECD imports, personal, cultural and recreational services, communication services and travel grew the slowest during this period.
Compared with 2004, OECD services exports and imports increased in 2005 (8.9% for exports and 7.9% for imports). The increase was less for G7 countries: 8.1% for service exports and 6.6% for service imports.
For G7 exports of services, financial services, sea transport and communication services expanded the most in the five years to 2005. For imports of services, the biggest increases were for insurance services, government services and computer and information services. For exports and imports of services the most important growth rates between 2004 and 2005, in current dollars, were respectively 15% for financial services and 15.7% for computer and information services. See Chart 2 and related data
The OECD Secretariat released in 2006 a publication presenting total trade in services, transportation, travel, other commercial services and government services data broken down by partner country, for 28 OECD member countries plus the EU and the euro area, for the years 2001 to 2004.
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