Information on data
International trade in services
International trade in services (ITS) record services transactions between residents and non-residents. They differentiate between transactions among EU countries, also called intra-EU transactions, and transactions of EU countries with non-EU countries, called extra-EU transactions.
Data are expressed in millions of euro for exports and imports. They are broken down by detailed geographical partner and type of service, using the extended balance of payments services (EBOPS) classification 2010.
ITS data are also available broken down by broad economic categories (BEC).
International supply of services by mode of supply
The provision of services often requires the physical proximity of the customer and the supplier. It may be done in various ways, including through foreign affiliates in the host country. This could be, for example, a non-resident bank that establishes a subsidiary in the host economy to supply banking services.
The World Trade Organization's (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) was the first trade agreement to cover services on a multilateral basis. The supply of services in GATS is defined based on the location of the supplier and consumer at the time of the transaction. GATS identifies 4 modes of supplying services internationally (GATS Article I:2):
Mode 1: Cross-border supply
This occurs when a service is supplied ‘from the territory of one Member into the territory of any other Member’ (GATS, Article I 2(a)). Territory refers to the economic territory of a WTO member. This definition implies that both the supplier and the consumer remain in their respective territories when the service is consumed.
Examples include banking or engineering services delivered over the internet or by mail.
Mode 2: Consumption abroad
This occurs when the service is supplied ‘in the territory of one Member to the service consumer of any other Member’ (GATS, Article I 2(b)). This means that either:
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the consumer is abroad when consuming the service or
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the service transaction related to their property happens abroad.
‘Property’ refers to physical assets or goods - specifically, something that can be repaired or processed, among others.
Examples are tourist activities, such as visits to museums and theatres, as are travel abroad for medical treatment or language courses.
Mode 3: Commercial presence
This occurs when a service is supplied ‘by a service supplier of one Member, through a commercial presence in the territory of any other Member’ (GATS, Article I 2(c)).
In statistical terms, commercial presence is defined as the establishment of a controlled affiliate abroad. It covers not only juridical persons in the strict legal sense, but other legal entities that share some of the same characteristics, such as representative offices and branches.
Examples of services supplied via mode 3 include financial services provided by a branch or subsidiary of a foreign bank, medical services provided by a foreign-owned hospital, and courses offered by a foreign-owned school.
Mode 4: Presence of natural persons
This occurs when someone provides a service while being temporarily present in the territory of an economy other than their own.
Under GATS, mode 4 is defined as the supply of a service ‘by a service supplier of one Member, through the presence of natural persons in the territory of any other Member’ (GATS, Article I 2(d)).
The MoS framework broadens the traditional view of supply of services between residents and non-residents to also include supply of services through the establishment of foreign affiliates abroad. This extended dimension is known as the international supply of services.
These data are part of European business statistics.
Data are expressed in millions of euro for exports and imports and broken down by geographical partner, mode of supply (modes 1, 2, 3, 4, and total), and type of service, using the extended balance of payments services (EBOPS) classification 2010.
Services trade by enterprise characteristics
Services trade by enterprise characteristics (STEC) statistics show a link between the volume of trade in services and the characteristics of the trading enterprises that are involved.
A cross-classification was created by linking the statistical business register and services traders at the business level using a common identifier such as the business register code. The resulting data give information on the types of businesses involved in trade in services.
The trade in services statistics and data from the national statistical business register are the main sources used for linking microdata.
The data are broken down by trader population according to the
- size of the enterprise: small, medium, or large
- type of ownership: domestic or foreign-controlled
- category of main economic activity
- type of service
These data are part of European business statistics.
Data transmission
The data are annual. They have the following data transmission deadlines (T for time refers to the reference year):
| Domain | Data transmission |
|---|---|
| International trade in services |
T + 9 months after the end of the reference period |
| International supply of services by modes |
|
| Services trade by enterprise characteristics |
T +18 months after the reference period |
| Services trade by broad economic categories |
Eurostat calculates data on the basis of the ITSS data. |
Data sources
A wide range of data sources are used, including:
- surveys of enterprises
- administrative data sources, such as administrative registers, taxation records, or any other information collected by government or private sector organizations as part of their ongoing operations
- international transactions reporting system (ITRS)
- data from international organisations such as the WTO or OECD
- information obtained from partner countries
- household surveys
- credit card and mobile phone data
MoS can be compiled using a combination of existing statistics, surveys, and administrative data:
- for modes 1, 2, and 4, the main source are ITS data using the extended balance of payments services classification (EBOPS) 2010
- for mode 3, the main source are foreign affiliates statistics (FATS) broken down by the main activity of the affiliate enterprise using the statistical classification of economic activities (NACE).
The Eurostat-WTO model can be used to allocate ITS and FATS data into one or more modes. This model is an operationalised version of a simplified MoS compilation approach first described in the UN manual on statistics of international trade in services. 2010. It can be further refined and complemented using enterprise surveys, other business statistics such as SBS, and administrative data such as business registers, and tax information, among others.
The data sources and the methodology for compiling MoS statistics are described in detail in the European business statistics compilers guide for statistics on international supply of services by mode of supply.
STEC data are produced by combining information from statistical business registers with data on international trade in services at the enterprise level. Further details on the data sources and estimation approaches are described in the STEC compilers guide.
Data revisions
Data may be revised depending on the national statistical authorities’ practices.
For ITS, Eurostat publishes the revised data transmitted by the national statistical authorities within each annual data production cycle. In case of methodological changes or discrepancies that would result in major data revisions, these updates will be exceptionally published on an ad-hoc basis.