E. Statistics by trading partner 3.38. There is a need for detailed geographical
allocations of the statistics on the various types of
services supplied and consumed by each economy
according to the country of residence of trading partners.
Such statistics give a firm basis for multilateral and
bilateral trade in services negotiations that are carried
out under GATS; they reveal developments in patterns
of trade by type of service and are important for a
variety of analytical purposes. Bilateral comparisons of
one country’s data with those of a trading partner,
through the use of “mirror statistics”, are an important
tool for investigating and improving data quality. To the
extent possible, an identical geographical basis should
be used for all related sets of international services
statistics (including FATS statistics).
3.39. Thus, in the present Manual, it is recommended
that statistics on international trade in services be
compiled on an individual trading partner basis, at least
at the level of the 11 major components of the BPM5
classification of services (see para. 2.52 above), and
where possible at the more detailed EBOPS level. The
production of these statistics is one of the core elements
recommended in the present Manual, and data collection
by trading partner should, if practicable, be developed
concurrently with the development of data collection at
the EBOPS level. It is recognized that, depending on the
data collection methods used, it may be very resource-
intensive and difficult for compilers to develop statistics
by trading partner.
3.40. Given the obstacles, such as disclosure or
incomplete information, to providing a complete detailed
geographic breakdown of trade in services, the present
Manual recommends that statistics be compiled at a
detailed partner country level where compilers identify
such statistics as being of most relevance in their
economies. This means that countries should give
priority to detailing their trade in services with their
main trading partners.