WORLD TRADE

REPORT 2019
The future of services trade
What is the World The World Trade Report is an
Trade Report?
annual publication that aims to
deepen understanding about
trends in trade, trade policy
issues and the multilateral
trading system.

What is the 2019 The 2019 World Trade Report

Report about?
examines how trade in services
is likely to evolve in response
to some major trends, such as
demographic changes and the
impact of digital technologies.

Find out more Website: www.wto.org

General enquiries:
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Tel: +41 (0)22 739 51 11
 CONTENTS

Contents
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer 3
Foreword by the WTO Director-General 4
Key facts and findings 6
Executive summary 7

A. Introduction 12
1. Globalization of services 14
2. Digitalized services: the non-tradable becomes hyper-tradable 14
3. The evolution of trade: from agriculture to manufacturing to services 15
4. More complex services trade requires more coherent policies 17
5. Why it matters 17
6. Structure of the report 18
B. Services trade in numbers 20
1. Trends in trade in services 22
2. Global trade in services through all modes of supply is worth US$ 13.3 trillion 22
3. Who trades services? 31
4. What is the role of services in global value chains? 44
C. Why services trade matters 50
1. The gains from services trade 52
2. Services trade boosts firms’ competitiveness 65
3. How services trade affects employment and inclusiveness 69
4. Concluding observations 80
D. Services trade in the future 82
1. Trade costs 84
2. Major trends that will affect trade in services 100
3. Quantifying services trade in the future 122
4. Concluding observations 134
E. What role for international cooperation on services trade policy? 152
1. Introduction 154
2. Why governments cooperate on services trade policy 154
3. How countries collaborate in the services sphere 165
4. Prospects for future cooperation 184
5. Concluding observations 193
F. Conclusions 198

Opinion pieces
Alan Beattie, “The case of the missing services” 23
Sonja Grater, Ali Parry and Wilma Viviers, “MSMEs and services trade:
A pathway to inclusive growth in developing economies?” 42
Matteo Fiorini and Bernard Hoekman, “Services trade policy and the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” 66
Rupa Chanda, “Ensuring inclusive services trade: role of complementary domestic policies” 78
Richard Baldwin, “Digital technology and telemigration” 126
Natallie Rochester, “The potential of trade in services for developing countries” 166
Jane Drake-Brockman, “Why regulatory cooperation matters for business” 188

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 WORLD TRADE REPORT 2019

Bibliography 200
Technical notes 213
Abbreviations and symbols 218
List of figures, tables and boxes 219
WTO members 225
Previous World Trade Reports 226