The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank have agreed to jointly develop a database on international trade in services. Trade in services is becoming ever more important globally, especially in developed countries, and constitutes around one fifth of world trade. There is however relatively little publicly available information on trade in services compared to the information available in respect of trade in goods.
The first version of the database has now been launched and forms part of the WTO’s Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal. The joint database covers more than a hundred countries and covers various sectors including transportation, telecommunications, retail, tourism, financial and business services. The information is arranged into four sections. These cover the commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); commitments made in regional trade agreements; measures on trade in services applied by member countries; and statistics in respect of trade in services.
