Services are becoming more important across the economy, and digitalisation is accelerating this process of servicification.

This raises policy questions about how services trade and policy affect development outcomes, including productivity and employment.

Developing countries often already collect national data that can help answer these questions.

Countries should make better use of existing data by improving access, linking data sets and strengthening capacity for policy-relevant analysis.

Services are increasingly embedded across agriculture, manufacturing and other services. This process, known as “servicification”, reflects both the growing role of services in the economy and their increasing use as inputs into production.

Digitalisation is accelerating these changes. Digitally delivered services grew by 7% a year in value terms between 2015 and 2024, compared with 4% for goods trade. The share of services exports in total exports has also increased over time in both developed and developing economies.

Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development