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value reaching $335.5 billion in 2005. This upward trend is likely to continue throughout the decade, given the positive prospects for global demand.

Figure 5 : Considerable increase in exports of creative goods

Sources: UNCTAD

A surge in exports of creative goods from developing countries

Until recently OECD countries have dominated both export and import flows. However year after year developing countries have increased their share in world markets for creative products and their exports have risen faster than those from developed countries. The exports of creative goods from developing economies accounted for 20 per cent of world exports of creative goods in 1996 but reached 42 percent in 2005. Developing-country exports of related creative goods increased by 143 per cent over the period 1996-2005 from $56 billion to $136 billion . For instance exports from the music industry jumped latterly from $222 to $1,412 million. However, this significant growth includes and reflects the remarkable increase in production and trade of Chinese creative goods which account for 19% of the total export flow. Indeed, China became the world’s leading exporting country of creative goods in 2005 benefiting from greater competitiveness of these creative good and services in world market over the last decade. This spectacular trend in growth is indicative of the catching-up strategies being pursued in a number of developing countries . The increase in the export performance of China over the ten year was remarkable, from $18.4 billion in 1996 to $61.3 billion in 2005. Asian economies accounted for more than three quarters of total exports of creative goods from economies of the South. In Latin America and the Caribbean, exports of creative goods more than doubled from $3.5 billion to $8.6 billion mainly due to Mexico performance and which rank among the top ten exporters in the world.

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