The Statistical Measurement of Services

Services are increasingly important in modern economies contributing about 68% of world economy value added in 2002 and, although at a much lower level, are increasingly traded internationally (see Table 1). These patterns of increasing importance of services are observed in the generality of both “developed” and “developing” economies, although there are economies which show exceptions to the trend. This paper discusses the policy needs to understand the impact of services on the performance of modern economies, some of the most pressing measurement problems, and it summarises recent actions undertaken by international organisations and expert groups to address these issues. It concludes that:- development work on services prices and volumes is fundamental to measurement of growth and needs to continue; there is a need to engage more countries in the development of their service statistics; international organisations should enhance co-ordination of interagency technical assistance and co-operation in this area; and from the national perspective, a wider implementation of a range of international standards is encouraged.