Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services

Box 2.   International trade in services 
Before the publication of the present Manual, the conventional statistical meaning of international trade in 
services was that described in BPM5, which defines international trade in services as being between residents and 
non-residents of an economy. This also corresponds very closely to the concept of trade in services in the “rest of 
the world” account of the 1993 SNA. Such trade is described in chapter III of the present Manual. 
This concept of international trade in services combines with the concept of international trade in goods, to form 
international trade in goods and services in the BPM5 current account. But as described in box 1, it is not always 
practical to separate trade in goods from trade in services. 
Services differ from goods in a number of ways, most commonly in the immediacy of the relationship between 
supplier and consumer. Many services are non-transportable, i.e., they require the physical proximity of supplier 
and customer––for example, the provision of a hotel service requires that the hotel is where the customer wishes to 
stay, a cleaning service for a business must be provided at the site of the business, and a haircut requires that both 
hairstylist and client be present. 
For international trade in such non-transportable services to take place, either the consumer must go the supplier 
or the supplier must go to the consumer. International trade agreements concerning services, in particular those 
embodied in GATS, make provision for agreement on suppliers moving to the country of the consumer. 
To reflect this type of trade, the Manual extends the definition of international trade in services to include the 
value of services provided through foreign affiliates established abroad, described here as foreign affiliates trade in 
services (FATS). Such trade is described in chapter IV below.  
Services are also supplied by individuals located abroad, either as service suppliers themselves or employed by 
service suppliers including those in the host country. A large part of this type of trade in services is covered by the 
BPM5 and FATS frameworks; the rest is discussed in annex I.  
Note:  Although the present Manual extends the scope of the term international trade in services, the Manual 
does not suggest that these extensions be regarded as imports or exports. 

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