In 2023, developing economies surpassed $1 trillion in exports of digitally deliverable services, contributing to a global total of $4.5 trillion, as reported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). These services, which include information technology consulting, creative industries, telecommunications and financial services, can be delivered remotely over computer networks.
Despite the significant growth, the distribution of these services remains uneven. Globally, digitally deliverable services constitute 56% of total services exports; however, in least developed countries (LDCs), this share is only 20%. Between 2015 and 2023, while the value of such exports from LDCs increased by 43%, their global share declined from 0.24% to 0.19%.
“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,” said Torbjörn 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.”
To address these disparities, UNCTAD is working on developing international guidelines to quantify e-commerce, aiming to support evidence-based policymaking, particularly in developing countries. The fifth meeting of UNCTAD’s Working Group on Measuring E-commerce and the Digital Economy is scheduled for December 11 and 12, 2024. This meeting will bring together international organizations, researchers, businesses, and civil society representatives to discuss capacity building and strategies to improve the availability, quality, comparability, usability, and relevance of digital trade statistics.
The outcomes of this meeting are expected to enhance global cooperation in measuring digital trade, thereby informing policies that promote inclusive digital economic growth.
