Imagine this: it is Saturday evening, and you decide to watch a movie with some friends at your house. You only need to press “Play” to start. Yet behind this single click are various services working together to connect people and businesses across the global economy, bringing the world into your living room.
Your smart TV was purchased through an e-commerce platform, paid for securely via an online banking app, and delivered to your door by a global express delivery provider. The streaming service that you use relies on efficient digital infrastructure, from cloud computing to a reliable, high-bandwidth internet connection that ensures a smooth viewing experience. The movie you are watching is the outcome of audiovisual services such as film production, sound design and programme distribution working in unison.
Although these services may appear borderless to the consumer, they are often traded internationally, whether supplied from abroad or by foreign providers with a local presence. When services trade faces restrictions, the simple streaming experience can quickly become more difficult and costly, due to ripple effects affecting prices, productivity and competition.
What do these barriers look like? For example, laws and regulations can restrict the cross-border provision of broadcasting services by blocking access to content or websites. In courier services, limits on the number of operators or monopolies for national providers can restrict market entry. Allowing more courier firms to compete can improve prices and the quality of parcel delivery service for consumers ordering goods online.
As services operate behind the scenes, trade debates often overlook their importance. The OECD’s monitoring and analysis of services trade policies helps governments identify bottlenecks and unlock the benefits of open services markets. The OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) tracks regulations affecting how easily services can be traded across borders in 51 economies and 22 sectors.
Many countries still maintain high barriers to services trade despite its economic importance
In 2025, global trade was marked by continued uncertainty and manufacturing-focused tensions. At the same time, services are a central component of the global economy.
Services sectors drive more than two-thirds of global GDP and support millions of jobs worldwide. When services trade is restricted, the effects spread across the wider economy, affecting productivity, investment and ultimately economic growth.
New OECD STRI data shows that barriers to services trade remained high in 2025. While some steps were taken to open markets, new restrictions largely offset those efforts, resulting in limited overall progress. Countries introduced fewer reforms compared to previous years, suggesting that momentum on services trade policy modernisation has stalled.
Services trade openness varies widely across countries and sectors
Despite their central role in economic growth, services face very different rules across countries, regions and sectors.
In 2025, economies such as Japan, the Netherlands and Spain stood out for having relatively open services markets. By contrast, nearly two-thirds of countries remained more restrictive than the OECD average, making it harder for services to be provided across borders.
While the gap between OECD and non-OECD economies has narrowed over time, regional differences persist, creating asymmetric conditions for businesses and contributing to global trade imbalances and uneven progress.
Differences lie not only at the country level, but also across sectors. Air transport, legal services and accounting remain the most restricted services globally. By contrast, distribution services, motion pictures and sound recording face the lowest barriers, making cross-border trade easier and less costly in these sectors.
Reducing long-standing differences in how services trade is regulated could help create a more balanced, competitive and resilient global economy.
Some countries are pushing ahead despite slowing reforms
Despite the overall slowdown, some countries continue to move forward with services trade reforms.
In 2024–25, New Zealand, Indonesia and India led reform efforts. These countries implemented changes that can bring substantial benefits for firms in services sectors and beyond.
For instance, OECD estimates suggest that India’s 2025 reform that fully opened insurance companies to foreign investment will lower trade costs by approximately 25% in the sector. A financial services reform of this magnitude can also raise labour productivity by an average of 16% in manufacturing industries that rely on financial services as essential inputs.
Digital services are growing faster than the rules that govern them
Services trade is evolving faster than the regulations that govern it. Digital services, in particular, are the fastest-growing part of international trade, yet barriers remain widespread.
This mismatch between fast-growing digital services and slow-moving regulation matters even more as AI becomes embedded in business services, logistics, finance and creative industries. High barriers and fragmented regulations risk undermining global market access, which is essential for many digital and AI-enhanced services.
Common barriers include requirements for a commercial or local presence when supplying digital services across borders, which increases the cost of accessing markets. In addition, regulation governing cross-border data flows, a key component of digital trade, is becoming increasingly complex and diverse across countries.
Restrictions on digital services trade are especially high in many African economies, where digital services regulations are, on average, three times more restrictive than in OECD countries.
Why services trade reform matters for growth and competitiveness
Modernising services regulation is not just about making it easier to press “Play” on a Saturday night. It is essential to deliver concrete and substantial economic gains.
OECD estimates suggest that comprehensive services trade reforms could reduce global trade costs by around USD 1.6 trillion each year, equivalent to around 1.4% of global GDP, with the largest benefits in professional services, financial services, transport and communications.
Without renewed reform efforts, economies risk missing out on productivity gains and value creation linked to the next phase of digital and AI-driven services growth.
For consumers, businesses and policymakers alike, the message is clear: services should not be considered a side activity. The rules governing them shape how economies grow, innovate and connect. Making those rules fit for today’s economy is no longer optional – it is essential.
For more information on OECD work on services trade, visit:
https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/services-trade.html