Barbados - Commercial service exports (current US$)

The value for Commercial service exports (current US$) in Barbados was 1,393,664,000 as of 2016. As the graph below shows, over the past 49 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 1,487,923,000 in 2008 and a minimum value of 28,826,360 in 1967.

Definition: Commercial service exports are total service exports minus exports of government services not included elsewhere. International transactions in services are defined by the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (1993) as the economic output of intangible commodities that may be produced, transferred, and consumed at the same time. Definitions may vary among reporting economies.

Source: International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files.

See also:

Year Value
1967 28,826,360
1968 35,670,540
1969 38,451,660
1970 50,941,480
1971 64,597,810
1972 75,727,730
1973 85,038,170
1974 89,151,580
1975 94,452,340
1976 107,895,900
1977 139,516,200
1978 176,528,900
1979 263,420,400
1980 322,807,700
1981 325,746,800
1982 335,770,500
1983 331,398,100
1984 366,357,900
1985 400,393,000
1986 445,728,100
1987 493,736,200
1988 585,028,400
1989 669,888,400
1990 617,919,200
1991 599,185,900
1992 596,173,800
1993 668,985,700
1994 778,882,900
1995 787,839,900
1996 949,287,800
1997 879,298,500
1998 929,054,100
1999 970,556,100
2000 1,064,782,000
2001 990,856,500
2002 1,004,929,000
2003 1,094,044,000
2004 1,068,285,000
2005 1,227,038,000
2006 1,353,730,000
2007 1,424,052,000
2008 1,487,923,000
2009 1,375,684,000
2010 1,294,580,000
2011 1,262,177,000
2012 1,243,156,000
2013 1,409,164,000
2014 1,343,502,000
2015 1,385,956,000
2016 1,393,664,000

Development Relevance: Trade in services differs from trade in goods because services are produced and consumed at the same time. Thus services to a traveler may be consumed in the producing country (for example, use of a hotel room) but are classified as imports of the traveler's country. In other cases services may be supplied from a remote location; for example, insurance services may be supplied from one location and consumed in another.

Limitations and Exceptions: Balance of payments statistics, the main source of information on international trade in services, have many weaknesses. Disaggregation of important components may be limited and varies considerably across countries. There are inconsistencies in the methods used to report items. And the recording of major flows as net items is common (for example, insurance transactions are often recorded as premiums less claims). These factors contribute to a downward bias in the value of the service trade reported in the balance of payments. Efforts are being made to improve the coverage, quality, and consistency of these data. Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, for example, are working together to improve the collection of statistics on trade in services in member countries. Still, difficulties in capturing all the dimensions of international trade in services mean that the record is likely to remain incomplete. Cross-border intrafirm service transactions, which are usually not captured in the balance of payments, have increased in recent years. An example is transnational corporations' use of mainframe computers around the clock for data processing, exploiting time zone differences between their home country and the host countries of their affiliates. Another important dimension of service trade not captured by conventional balance of payments statistics is establishment trade - sales in the host country by foreign affiliates. By contrast, cross-border intrafirm transactions in merchandise may be reported as exports or imports in the balance of payments.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The balance of payments (BoP) is a double-entry accounting system that shows all flows of goods and services into and out of an economy; all transfers that are the counterpart of real resources or financial claims provided to or by the rest of the world without a quid pro quo, such as donations and grants; and all changes in residents' claims on and liabilities to nonresidents that arise from economic transactions. All transactions are recorded twice - once as a credit and once as a debit. In principle the net balance should be zero, but in practice the accounts often do not balance, requiring inclusion of a balancing item, net errors and omissions. The concepts and definitions underlying the data are based on the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6). Balance of payments data for 2005 onward will be presented in accord with the BPM6. The historical BPM5 data series will end with data for 2008, which can be accessed through the World Development Indicators archives. The complete balance of payments methodology can be accessed through the International Monetary Fund website (www.imf.org/external/np/sta/bop/bop.htm).

Aggregation method: Gap-filled total

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Private Sector & Trade Indicators

Sub-Topic: Exports