CARIFORUM and UK EPA Study

7. TRADE IN SERVICES

7.1 Approved Methodology

It is acknowledged that the availability and collection of data and statistics on services trade is largely inadequate, with concerted efforts now being made by governments as well as regional and international organizations to address this glaring deficit. Services Trade data, where this has traditionally been captured in Balance of Payments Statistics, is also often only provided in relation to the relevant balance of payment line item for that particular methodology being utilised at the relevant point in time. As these methods shift there will be differences in the data that will also cause complications for comparisons over time. The current method utilised by UNCTAD, which will be used for services (Import and Export), is the BPM6, which is based on the Enhanced Balance of Payments System (EBOPS) 2010 classification. As indicated in previous sections, a time series analysis of the services trade (Imports and Exports) will be carried out. However, detailed sectoral analysis will be more difficult to undertake, given the data limitations, though some level of detail is available from sources such as the WTO database 36 . In addition, the relevant services categories 37 that are available from UNCTAD do not directly correspond with the Sectoral 36 This includes disaggregated data on commercial and business services, as well as transport, travel, construction, insurance, financial, telecommunications, personal, cultural and recreational services, among others. 37 Data for Services (BPM6): Exports and imports by service-category and by trade-partner, annual available from https://unctadstat.unctad.org/wds/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=135718 and described at https://unctadstat.unctad.org/wds/TableViewer/summary.aspx. The relevant Sectors in the Table are as follows-In this table, services are classified into following four main categories: goods-related services, transport, travel and other services. Other services are further disaggregated into: construction, insurance and pension services, financial services, charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e., telecommunications, computer and information services, other business services, personal, cultural and recreational services, government goods and services n.i.e., and services not allocated. All main items can then be further disaggregated for more detailed information.

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