The share of intra-regional trade in services is very low in Africa, accounting for only 7% as of 2019 even though it comprises more than 50 economies.
This is contained in the latest WTO and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) new dataset covering bilateral services trade of over 200 economies from 2005 to 2019 launched on 13th January 2021.
The WTO-OECD Balanced Trade in Services (BaTIS) dataset, which provides detailed data for 12 services sectors in addition to total commercial services, offers a complete and balanced matrix that reconciles previously asymmetrical export and import data.
Africa’s intra-regional service trade as a percentage of the total African trade is the lowest among all the continents across the globe. But there is renewed optimism with the coming into effect of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on January 1, 2021.
The African version of the Free Trade Area, the African Union (AU) and the ATPC says, will bring together fifty-five African countries with a combined population of 1.2 billion people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion.
This is expected to boost intra-service trade among the African nations.
At present, bilateral data are available for less than 70% of world trade in services. For individual services sectors, data coverage can be much lower. Moreover, the availability of statistics on bilateral trade in services varies significantly across countries and regions.
The recent data shows that more than 90% of Europe’s services trade can be captured on a bilateral basis. However, this share drops to only 36% for Asia. No bilateral services transactions are currently reported by African or Middle Eastern economies.
The BaTIS experimental dataset, which uses both official statistics and estimates for missing data, provides users with a complete and balanced matrix covering virtually all economies in the world.
It covers the following sectors in the 2010 Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS): manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others; maintenance and repair services; transport; travel; construction; insurance and pension services; financial services; charges for the use of intellectual property; telecommunications, computer and information services; other business services; personal, cultural and recreational services; and government goods and services, as well as total commercial services.
“It is thus a valuable tool for economic analysis, policy-making, and trade negotiations”, the WTO said in a press release.
BaTIS estimates also reveal that, in 2019, 12.0% of commercial services exports of least-developed countries (LDCs) were delivered to the United States, followed by China (9.8%) and India (6.0%), largely relating to international travelers’ expenditure and transport. Overall, Europe and Asia were the main regional destinations of LDCs’ services exports.
Intra-regional services flows are also modest in South and Central America and the Caribbean, another large region. The share, in contrast, is highest in Europe and Asia.
The BaTIS dataset, containing; reported data by countries; reported data including adjustments and estimates to fill data gaps, and the final balanced values, is available in the WTO Data portal. A methodological note is also provided.
