Nations cross $1 trn mark in digitally deliverable services exports in 2023

In a historic first, developing economies in 2023 crossed the trillion-dollar mark in their exports of digitally deliverable services, according to new data released by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

That same year, global exports of digitally deliverable services totalled $4.5 trillion. Such services can be delivered remotely over computer networks. Some examples include information technology consulting, creative industries, telecommunications and financial services.

While digital technologies have the potential to transform global services trade, their benefits remain unevenly distributed.

UNCTAD data show that while digitally deliverable services account for 56 per cent of services exports worldwide, that share is just 20 per cent in least developed countries (LDCs).

Despite a 43 per cent increase between 2015 and 2023 in value terms, LDCs' share of global digitally deliverable services exports steadily fell from 0.24 per cent to 0.19 per cent.

"The decline reflects not only persistent challenges facing LDCs related to infrastructure, digital skills gap and restricted markets access, but also systemic inequalities that continue to stymie progress," says Torbjorn Fredriksson, head of the e-commerce and digital economy programme at UN Trade and Development. Without targeted interventions, the digital economy risks entrenching existing inequalities rather than alleviating them."

As part of its broader work to foster inclusive digital trade, UNCTAD supports the development of international guidelines to quantify e-commerce, aimed at helping inform evidence-based policymaking, particularly in developing countries.

The fifth meeting of the organisation's working group on measuring e-commerce and the digital economy, set for 11 and 12 December, will continue advancing global cooperation to better measure digital trade. The two-day event will bring together international organisations, researchers, businesses and civil society representatives. Discussions will centre around capacity building and ways to enhance the availability, quality, comparability, usability and relevance of digital trade statistics.