WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/W/172 
23 November 2009 
 
 (09-5816) 
Committee on Trade and Development  
  
 
PARTICIPATION OF DEVELOPING ECONOMIES  
IN THE GLOBAL TRADING SYSTEM 
 
Note by the Secretariat
* 
 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. .....3 
I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... .5 
II. PATTERN OF TRADE OF DEVELOPING ECONOMIES................................................6  
A. LONG -TERM PERSPECTIVE ...........................................................................................................6  
B. MERCHANDISE TRADE DEVELOPMENTS ......................................................................................9  
1. Developing economies' participation in world trade by product categories........................9  
2. Commodity price developments ............................................................................................11  
3. Manufactures dominate developing econo mies' exports, but prices lifted the 
share of primary commodities ...............................................................................................12  
4. Developing economies' merchandise trade by region..........................................................13  
5. Direction of trade ............................................................................................................. .......14  
C. TRADE IN COMMERCIAL SERVICES ............................................................................................16  
1. Developing economies' trade in co mmercial services by region .........................................17  
2. Services categories:  exports of oth er commercial services take the lead ..........................18  
3. Direction of trade ............................................................................................................. .......20  
4. Indicators of commercial presence for developing economies............................................21  
III. TRADE DEVELOPMENTS BETWEEN 2006 AND 2008 .................................................24  
A. COMMODITY PRICES WEIGH HE AVIER ON DEVELOPING ECONOMIES ' TRADE BALANCES ..........24  
1. Sharp deterioration in m erchandise trade balances............................................................24  
2. Commercial service balan ces also deteriorate......................................................................25  
B. MERCHANDISE TRADE BY REGION .............................................................................................27  
1. Latin America .................................................................................................................. .......28  
2. Developing Europe.............................................................................................................. ....29  
3. Africa......................................................................................................................... ...............30  
4. Middle East.................................................................................................................... ..........32  
                                                      
* This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 2  
 
  5.
 Developing Asia................................................................................................................ .......33  
C. TRADE IN COMMERCIAL SERVICES BY REGION ..........................................................................35  
1. Export performances............................................................................................................ ..35 
2. Developing economies' import s of commercial services......................................................40  
IV. DEVELOPING ECONOMIES' TR ADE DURING THE CRISIS: 
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2009..........................................................41  
A. MERCHANDISE TRADE ...............................................................................................................41  
1. Commodity prices ............................................................................................................... ....41  
2. Merchandise exports............................................................................................................ ...41 
3. Merchandise imports............................................................................................................ ..43 
B. THE IMPACT OF THE CRISIS ON TRADE IN  COMMERCIAL SERVICES OF DEVELOPING 
ECONOMIES ............................................................................................................................... 44 
ANNEX .......................................................................................................................... .......................47  
THE TRADING ENVIRONMENT .................................................................................................................47  
A. DECREASE IN TARIFFS SINCE THE CONCLUSION OF THE URUGUAY ROUND ...............................47  
B. TARIFFS FACED BY DEVELOPING ECONOMIES ...........................................................................47  
C. THE DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENT FOR TRADING GOODS ACROSS BORDERS ..................................48  
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................... ....................51  
Appendix Table 1:  Merchandise exports of developing economies and regions, 
2000-2008 ...................................................................................................................... ...........51  
Appendix Table 2:  Merchandise imports of developing economies and regions, 
2000-2008 ...................................................................................................................... ...........55  
Appendix Table 3:  Commercial services expo rts of developing economies and regions, 
2000-2008 ...................................................................................................................... ...........59  
Appendix Table 4:  Commercial services impo rts of developing economies and regions, 
2000-2008 ...................................................................................................................... ...........63  
Appendix Table 5:  Export prices of  primary commodities, 2005-2008 .........................................67  
Appendix Table 6:  Most dynamic products in  developing economies' exports, 2006-2008 .........67  
Appendix Table 7:  Network of developing economies merchandise trade by product 
and region, 2006 and 2008...................................................................................................... 68 
Appendix Table 8:  Per capita exports and imports of goods and commercial services for 
selected developing economies, 2000-2008............................................................................70  
Appendix 9:  Composition of reporter and partner groups.............................................................71  
    WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 3 
 
 
  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
Pattern of trade 
Developing economies' trade expanded steadily a nd profoundly since the second half of the 
1980s.  Although commodity prices remain a major determinant, the integration of developing 
economies into global trade stemmed mainly from the development of solid commercial ties with 
other countries and economies.  They remain, however , particularly vulnerable to external shocks 
such as the 1998 financial crisis, the burst of the IT bubble in 2001, and the recent food crisis. 
Between 2000 and 2008, China, India and Braz il emerged as major traders and strengthened 
considerably their trade with other developi ng economies.  Global manufacturing – in which 
developing economies are particularly involved  – accelerated.  Commodity prices, which were 
relatively stable over the 2000-2003 period, tripled thro ugh the subsequent five years.  As a result, 
developing economies' expor ts and imports soared between 2000 and 2008, and their share in world 
trade rose at a pace that had never been ma tched, except during the two oil crises. 
The contribution of developing economies' exports to world trade in manufactures increased 
remarkably between 2000 and 2008, as China emerged as a central hub for global manufacturing and 
export-oriented industries in other developing eco nomies underwent structural changes.  While the 
role of China in world trade expanded in all produc t categories, the rise was particularly striking in 
labour-intensive products (office and telecom equipm ent and clothing), as these industries declined in 
most other developing economies.  At the same ti me, capital and technology-intensive goods such as 
iron and steel, chemicals, transportation equipmen t and other machinery, gained importance in 
developing economies' manufacture exports.  De veloping economies remain the world's main 
suppliers of primary commodities, an d the five-year long boom in pr ices lifted substantially the share 
of these products in their export basket.  The grow ing integration of developing economies into global 
trade also took place through their merchandise imports, which significantly increased their share in world trade in all major product categories. 
The demand from developed countries is still an essential source of income for developing 
economies, absorbing half of their merchandise e xports in 2008.  South-South trade has however 
expanded considerably faster over the 2000 to 20 08 period, fuelled both by Asia's exports of 
manufactures to – and imports of fuels and othe r minerals from – other developing regions.  
Merchandise trade among developing economies out side Asia also grew very rapidly. 
The contribution of developing economies' exports  to world trade in commercial services also 
rose significantly, driven mainly by the growth in tr ansportation and travel receipts.  Their exports of 
other commercial services rose even faster, along with the intensification in global exchanges of these 
services.  Developing economies' exports of other commercial services comprise mainly other business services – which include, inter alia,  trade-related services and business, professional and 
technical services.  Computer and information services (particularly dynamic in recent years) and financial services represented 12 per cent and 10 per cent of developing econo mies' exports of other 
commercial services. 
Anecdotal available information, mainly throu gh mirror statistics, suggests that developing 
economies accounted for more than a third of devel oped countries' imports of commercial services in 
2007.  Since few developing economies compile statistics on trade in services broken down 
geographically within their balance of payments (BOP), it is not possible to conduct a satisfactory 
review of this aspect of their trade.  Likewise, virtually no developing economy compiles indicators of 
trade in services through the establishment of a commercial presence (mode 3 of the General WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 4  
 
  Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)), a mode which BOP statistics do not cover.
1  Y e t ,  
developing economies' foreign direct investment (inward and outward) in service activities were 
multiplied by more than 20 in the last 15 years:  m ode 3 trade in services is now substantial.  For 
developing and developed economies alike, building up the production of statistics on these aspects of 
trade in services is becoming increasingly crucial. 
The 2006-2008 period 
Over the 2006-2008 period food price increases accelerated, affecting populations in a 
number of net food-importing developing economies.  The sharp rise in prices of fuels and minerals 
continued.  Merchandise exports  of Africa and the Middle East were consequently the fastest 
growing, together with developing Europe.  Manufacture-exporting economi es in developing Asia 
also posted strong growth in their merchandise exports. 
A vast majority of developing economies (119 out of 156 in 2008) have a deficit in their 
merchandise trade, which commodity prices deteriorat ed.  This exerted considerable pressure on the 
concerned economies.  Over half the developing economies with negative merchandise trade balances 
had surpluses in commercial services, which in most  cases are much lower than the goods deficit.  A 
majority of developing economies also experienced  a deterioration in their balance of commercial 
services between 2006 and 2008. 
World trade in services accelerated markedly in 2007 and slowed down in 2008.  All 
developing regions experienced an acceleration in their exports and imports of commercial services 
over the 2006-2008 period.  The transportation sector  contributed significantly, under the drive of 
booming merchandise trade flows and fuel prices.  Economies which in recent years developed new 
export-oriented service activities like business proces s outsourcing or computer services experienced 
particularly strong export growth. 
The crisis period 
In the latter half of 2008, commodity prices plunged and the slowdown in global consumption 
virtually halted flows of intermediate goods with in the network of the global supply chains. 
Commodity prices continued to fall until Februa ry 2009.  Compared with the previous 
quarter, developing economies exports and imports fell in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter 
of 2009, then rebounded slightly in the following quarter.  On average, in the first half of 2009, merchandise trade of the developing economies was a bout 30 per cent lower than in the same period 
of 2008.  The sharpest drops were registered in trade in fuels and other minerals as well as iron and 
steel.   
Incomplete quarterly and bi-annual data on commercial services also indicate a year-on-year 
contraction of developing economies' trade in the second half of 2008 followed by a sharp fall in the 
first half of 2009.  Although more resilient than transportation and trav el at the beginning of the crisis, 
developing economies' e xports of other business services also experienced an abrupt drop by 
mid-2009.
                                                     
 
1 Even among the developed countries only a handful have started compiling Foreign Affiliates 
Statistics (FATS), a new conceptual framework launched in 2002 which, among other indicators, would provide 
sufficient information on GATS mode 3.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 5 
 
 
  I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This document has been prepared by the S ecretariat to assist the Committee on Trade and 
Development (CTD) in meeting its requirement to continuously review the participation of 
developing economy Members in the multilateral tradi ng system.  It updates previous studies on this 
topic produced for the Committee in  1997, 2000, 2 002, 2004 and 2007.1  The first part of this report 
reviews the structural patterns of international trade of developing economies.2  The second part 
highlights recent trends and salient features of th eir trade from 2006 to 2008, which follow the period 
examined in the previous study.  Finally, the thir d part provides an overview of the initial impact of 
the crisis on developing economies by examining thei r trade during the first half of 2009.  The report 
is completed by an annex, which describes some aspects of the trading environment for developing 
economies through tariff information and indicators of their domestic conditions for trading across 
borders.  A statistical appendix containing a serie s of specific tabulations and the composition of 
regions and economic groupings used in this report is also included.3  
2. Wherever relevant tables include memora ndum items on the trade performance of the 
least-developed countries (LDCs), which are a subset  of developing economies.  Specific aspects of 
their trade are, however, not discussed as they ar e the subject of another recent in-depth study.4 
                                                      
1 The 2007 document is WT/COMTD/W/162. 
2 The composition of developing economies and other groupings is provided in Appendix 9. 
3 Data published in this document (except where otherwise indicated) are derived from the WTO's 
International Trade Statistics Report 2009 and the WTO's Statistics Database 
(http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/statis_e.htm).  For more information on the definitions of indicators 
and detailed sources of data, see the Technical Notes in the above mentioned report or the WTO's Statistics 
website. 
4 WT/COMTD/LDC/W/46. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 6  
 
  II. PATTERN OF TRADE OF DEVELOPING ECONOMIES 
A. 
LONG -TERM PERSPECTIVE  
3. The 1990s witnessed fundamental changes in trad e policies and orientations both at the global 
and country level that created an environment conducive to economic integration and flourishing 
world trade.  Major developments such as the opening of new markets in Eastern Europe and the 
successor States of the former Soviet Union in  the 1990s, the successful conclusion of the 
Uruguay Round and the establishment of the WTO, th e consolidation of economic reforms and trade 
liberalization policies in a number of developing ec onomies, notably Latin America and India, created 
an enabling environment for the fast growing globa l exchange of goods and services.  The accession 
of China and other economies to the WTO further i nvigorated the rules-based multilateral system and 
strengthened global integration.  The phasing out of and expiry of the Agreement on Textiles and 
Clothing (ATC) that governed trade in textiles and clothing through a system of quotas has obviously 
resulted in structural adjustments in bot h developed and developing economies.   
 
Chart 1:  Volume of merchandise trade and GDP, 1990-2008  
 
(Indices, 1990=100) 
100150200250300350400450
1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 2008Developing economies' 
merchandise trade
Developing economies' GDPWorld  merchandise trade
World GDP
 
 
4. Between 1990 and 2008 the rate of growth of  world merchandise trade in volume has been 
twice faster than world GDP.5  World trade and GDP rose by an annual average of 6 per cent and 
3 per cent respectively.  The respec tive figures of developing economies6 are 9 per cent and 
5.5 per cent per year.  World merchandise trade almost tripled between 1990 and 2008, while developing economies multiplied the volume of their tr ade by 4.5, which is double the growth of 
developed countries. 
                                                     
 
5 It is important to bear in mind that merchandise trade flows are recorded on a "gross basis" whereas 
GDP measures the value added during the production of goods and services (i.e. output less intermediate 
consumption).  This means in particular that traded intermediate products are only taken into account in GDP through the additional value produced at each step of the production pro cess.  In merchandise trade data, 
intermediate goods are counted at fu ll value each time they cr oss the border.  A higher number of cross-border 
movements in the case of intermediate manufactured goods may therefore result in a higher growth of merchandise trade compared to GDP.  The emergence of international supply chains increases this phenomenon. 
In addition, GDP includes services which are not reflect ed in the goods trade series.  A higher growth of 
merchandise trade may therefore indicat e that there is a higher turnover in trade in intermediate manufactured 
products. 
6 Hong Kong, China re-exports and imports for re-exports are excluded throughout the report.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 7 
 
 
   
Chart 2:  Development of merchandise exports and imports volume, 1990-2008  
 
(Indices, 1990=100) 
100200300400500
1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 2008Developing economies-ex ports Developing econom ies-imports
Developed econom ies-ex ports Developed economies-im portsDeveloping economies
Developed economies
 
 
5. In terms of current dollars, merchandise trad e of the developing economies had peaked in 
1980 due to the second oil crisis.  Their merchandise  exports had then attained 30 per cent of world 
trade.  Thereafter, this share declined for six su ccessive years as oil prices were gradually dropping 
from the record level they had reached at the end of 1979.   
6. Since the late eighties, the participation of developing economies followed a discernible 
upward trend.  Over the twenty-year period to 2008, exports of the developing economies rose from 
23 per cent to a new historical record of 38 per cent of world merchandise trade, and from 20 per cent 
to 27 per cent of global trade in commercial services.   
Chart 3:  Share of developing economies in world trade, 1970-2008  
 
(Percentage) 
152025303540
1970
198019861990
2000 2008
Merchandise ex ports imports Commercial services ex ports imports1998 2001 1979 1973
 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 8  
 
  7. Measured in terms of trade-to-GDP ratio, th e degree of integration of developing economies 
in the global trading system progressed at a much  faster pace than that of developed countries.
7 The 
openness measure of the developing economies gain ed 30 percentage point s between 1990 and 2008 
as compared to 21 percentage points for developed countries.  
Table 1:  Degree of openness of developing economies by region, 1990-2008  
 
 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 
Developing economies 51 60 68 80 81 
Latin America  29 32 42 48 49 
Africa 47 56 59 72 79 
Middle East 77 71 82 99 105 Developing Asia  62 78 85 96 93 
Memorandum item      
Developed economies  36 37 43 49 57 
 Note:  the degree of openness is measured as the ra tio of total trade (exports plus imports) in goods and 
commercial services to GDP. 
 
8. In 2008, the Middle East was the region most integrated to international trade in contrast to 
Latin America which had the lowest trade-to-GDP ratio .  In the last 18 years, Africa, developing Asia, 
and the Middle East increased their trade-to-GDP ratios by about 30 percentage points while Latin 
America's degree of openness gained 20 percentage points.  While trade in intermediate products 
(international supply chains) have contributed in an  important way to Asian growth, developments in 
other regions were mainly driven by the surg e in petroleum and other commodity prices.   
9. Along with their high degree of openness, devel oping economies proved to be more sensitive 
not only to commodity price volatility but also to ex ternal shocks such as the 1997 financial crisis, the 
burst of the IT bubble in 2001 and the September 11 event (see Chart 3).  The 2001-2008 period was 
characterised by a continuous rise of primary commodity prices, the emergence of China, India and Brazil as major traders, and an acceleration of global manufacturing (whereby productive activities 
are re-located in countries with low production costs) .  All in all developing  economies' international 
exchanges soared, and their share in world trade rose at a pace that had never been matched except 
during the two oil crises. 
10. The following sub-sections review some of the main aspects of the considerable expansion of 
developing economies' trade between 2000 and 2008. 
                                                     
 
7 The ratio of exports and imports of goods and comme rcial services to GDP is often used to indicate 
the openness of an economy.  This measurement should ho wever be interpreted with caution as it is influenced 
by a wide range of factors other than trade liberalizati on, such as, for example, commodity prices or exchange 
rate fluctuations.  Oil exporters or tourism-based economies for example have naturally a very high ratio of 
trade to GDP because of the importance of the external sector to their economy.   WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 9 
 
 
  B. MERCHANDISE TRADE DEVELOPMENTS  
11. The share of developing economies in worl d trade remained unchanged between 2000 and 
2003, then grew uninterrupted until 2008.  Fuelle d by commodity prices and the dynamism of major 
emerging economies – namely China, India and Braz il – their exports and imports rose annually by 
21 per cent during this five-year time span, considerab ly faster than world average (16 per cent annual 
growth).  From less than a third in 2000, the sh are of developing economies'  exports and imports in 
world trade reached respectively 38 per cent and 34 per cent in 2008. 
Chart 4:  Merchandise trade of developing economies, 2000-2008  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
010002000300040005000600070008000
2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 2008Billion dollars
0510152025303540
Percentage share
Ex ports Imports
Share in world ex ports (right-hand scale) Share in world imports (right-hand scale)
 
 
1. Developing economies' participation in  world trade by product categories8 
12. The share of developing economies' exports in world trade rose significantly for all product 
categories except fuels.  Despite a remarkable 19 per cent annual increase, the share of their exports in 
world trade in fuels dropped from 61 per cent to 57 per cent, because the Commonwealth of 
Independent States (CIS) posted an outstanding performance (27 per cent growth per year). 
13. Developing economies raised the share of th eir manufacture exports in world trade from 
27 per cent to 34 per cent between 2000 and 2008, wh ich largely stemmed from China's considerable 
progress in developing its role as a central hub fo r global manufacturing.  China particularly 
developed its trade in office and telecom equipm ent (from 17 per cent to 27 per cent of its total 
exports) while the share of these products in expo rts of all major IT traders sharply declined.  
Consequently, China's contribution to world exports  of office and telecom equipment rose from just 
4 per cent in 2000 to 24 per cent in 2008.  China also raised the share of its exports in global trade in 
textiles, from 10 per cent to 26 per cent (along with Turkey from 2 per cent to 4 per cent) and 
clothing, from 18 per cent to 33 per cent.   
14. If China is excluded, developing economies raised the share of their exports in world trade in 
transportation equipment by 5 percentage points (owing to remarkable performances posted by 
Turkey, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and Brazil) , and chemicals from 15 per cent to 18 per cent.  
The contribution of their exports to global trade however dropped in the sectors of office and telecom 
                                                      
8 The definition of product groupings is provided in the metadata of the International Trade Statistics 
publication (www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/statis_e.htm). WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 10  
 
  equipment (by 4 percentage points), textiles (by 8 pe rcentage points) and clothing (by 14 percentage 
points). 
15. The clothing sector underwent structural adjustments following the expiry of the ATC in 
2005.  A number of traditional exporters, especia lly in Asia (for example Hong Kong, China and 
Macao, China) and Latin America (such as the Domi nican Republic and Mexico) saw their exports 
decline abruptly and further deve loped other export-oriented indust ries.  Nevertheless, the apparel 
sector still provides significant development opportun ities for low-income economies.  For example, 
Viet Nam, Cambodia and Bangladesh improved thei r competitiveness and saw their clothing exports 
rise annually by 24 per cent, 18 per cent and 17 per cent respectively between 2005 and 2008.   
16. From 2000 to 2008, developing economies (including China) substantially increased their 
participation in world trade in non-fuel primary commodities.  Their exports of non-fuel minerals 
increased their share by a remarkable 7 percentage points and reached 37 per cent.  Their exports of 
agricultural products accounted for 34 per cent of worl d trade in 2008, 4 percentage points higher than 
eight years earlier.   
Chart 5:  Respective shares of developing, developed and CIS economies exports in world trade by product 
groups, 2000 and 2008  
 
(Percentage) 
30%34%61%57%
30%37%
27%34%
0%20%40%60%80%100%
2000 2008 2000 2008 2000 2008 2000 2008
Developing economies Developed economies Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)Agricultural products Fuels Other minerals Manufactures
 
 
17. On the import side, developing economies strengthe ned their participation in world trade in 
all product categories.  In 2008, their imports accounted for one third of world trade in agricultural products, fuels and manufactures.  Compared with  2000, these represent increases of 6 percentage 
points, 3 percentage points and 5 percentage point s for the respective product categories.  Due to 
China's growing demand, the share of developing economies' imports in world trade in non-fuel 
minerals rose from 26 per cent in 2000 to 40 per cent in 2008.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 11 
 
 
  Table 2:  Developing economies merchandise trade by product, 2000-20089 
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
  Exports  Importsa 
  Value  share in 
world trade  Annual 
change  Value  share in 
world trade  Annual 
change 
  2008   00 08  00-08   2008   00 08  00-08 
All products 5992  31 38  15  5506  28 34  15 
Agricultural products 462  30 34  14  477  27 33  15 
Fuels 1620  61 57  19  1001  29 33  22 
Africa 350  12 12  21  68  2 2  23 
Middle East 741  29 26  18  48  1 2  27 
Non-fuel minerals 250  30 37  20  283  26 40  23 
Latin America 100  12 15  21  24  3 3  17 
Developing Asia 82  10 12  20  213  19 30  24 
China 23  2 4  23  138  7 20  34 
Manufactures 3549  27 34  14  3604  27 32  13 
Developing Asia 2715  20 26  14  1982  16 18  12 
China 1330   5 13   25   733   3 7   20 
 aThe import structure is derived from the WTO network of world merchandise trade. 
 
2. Commodity price developments 
Chart 6:  Export prices of primary commodities, 2000-2008  
 
(Indices, 2000=100) 
50100150200250300350
2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 2008 All primary commodities
Food, beverages, and agricultural raw materials
Minerals and non-ferrous metals (ex cluding crude petroleum)
Energy
 
 
18. As global demand weakened in the aftermath of  the IT crisis and the September 11 event, 
prices of primary commodities plunged by 8 per cent in 2001 and took two years to regain their 2000 
                                                      
9 Shares provided in tables and charts throughout the report may not add up to totals due to rounding. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 12  
 
  level.  Thereafter, growing demand in both indu strialized and emerging economies triggered an 
uninterrupted increase in commodity prices througho ut the years 2003 to 2008.  Primary commodity 
prices increased on average 14 per cent per year between 2000 and 2008.  Fuel prices posted the 
strongest increase, growing on average by 17 per cent.   Although the rise in prices of minerals and 
non-ferrous metals had been stronge r until 2007, these products saw their price drop by 8 per cent in 
2008 as they were the first affected by the recent cris is.  Agricultural prices increased steadily by a 
moderate 4 per cent per year from 2000 to 2005.  In the 2005 to 2008 period, however, their annual 
growth accelerated to 16 per cent, due to the hi ke in cereal prices which rose annually by an 
unprecedented 30 per cent. 
3. Manufactures dominate developing economies' exports, but prices lifted the share of 
primary commodities 
19. Since the early 90s developing economies have affirmed themselves as an essential link in 
global supply chains, and consequently saw manufac tures become their main export products (about 
60 per cent in 2008).
10  Statistics on the 2000-2008 period further highlight that chemicals and iron 
and steel, which are rather technology-intensive products, increased their share in developing 
economies' manufacture exports from 8 per cent to 11 per cent and from 3 per cent to 6 per cent, 
respectively.  Likewise, the combined share of  transportation equipment and other machinery 
(excluding office and telecom equipment) gained  5 percentage points to reach 26 per cent.  
Conversely, labour-intensive manufactures such as office and telecom equipment (assembling) and 
clothing, witnessed their share in developing economies' manufacture exports drop from 31 per cent to 25 per cent and from 10 per cent to 7 per cent, respectively.   
20. Prices of manufactured products are far less volatile than those of primary commodities.  
Thus, as booming prices lifted the share of fuels in  developing economies' exports from 21 per cent to 
27 per cent, the share of manufacture was 7 percentage  points less in 2008 than in 2000.  Changes in 
the respective shares of non-fuel minerals a nd agricultural products were only marginal. 
Chart 7:  Product composition of developing economies' export, 2000 and 2008  
 
(Percentage) 
2008
Non-fuel 
minerals, 4%Manufactures, 
59%Fuels, 27%
Agricultural 
products, 8%2000
Non-fuel 
minerals, 3%
M anufactures, 
66%Fuels, 21%
Agricultural 
products, 9%
 
 
                                                      
10 Existing statistics do not allow a complete assessment of international trade related to global 
manufacturing, although a part of these flows is captured in statistics on processing zone trade and balance-of-
payment item goods for processing . These data indicate that the participation of developing economies in global 
supply chains have accounted for not less than 18 per cent of their total exports between 2000 and 2008.  
Comprehensive data would surely re flect a considerably higher share.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 13 
 
 
  4. Developing economies' m erchandise trade by region 
Table 3:  Merchandise trade by regi on and selected economies, 2000-2008  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
  Exports  Imports 
  Value  Share in 
world trade  Annual 
change  Value  Share in 
world trade  Annual 
change 
  2008   00 08  00-08   2008   00 08  00-08 
Developing economiesa 5992  31 38  15  5506  28 34  15 
Latin America 891  6 6  12  919  6 6  11 
Mexico 292  3 2  7  323  3 2  7 
Brazil 198  1 1  17  182  1 1  15 
Developing Europe 168  1 1  21  283  1 2  19 
Turkey 132  0 1  22  202  1 1  18 
Africa 558  2 4  18  466  2 3  17 
Northern Africa 206  1 1  18  165  1 1  17 
Sub-Saharan Africa 352  2 2  18  301  1 2  18 
South Africa 81  0 1  13  99  0 1  16 
Middle East 1021  4 6  18  586  3 4  17 
Developing Asiaa 3353  18 21  15  3253  16 20  15 
China 1428  4 9  24  1132  3 7  22 
NICs (6)a b 1410  10 9  10  1429  10 9  10 
Memorandum items              
Worlda 15717  100 100  12  16127  100 100  12 
Developed economies 9022  67 57  10  10123  71 63  10 
Commonwealth of 
Independent States 703  2 4  22  498  1 3  25 
LDCs (49) 174   1 1   22   158   1 1   17 
 aExcluding Hong Kong, China re-exports or imports for re-exports.   
 bHong Kong, China; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Singa pore; Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, 
Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese  Taipei); and Thailand. 
 Note: 0 refer to value or percentage lower than 0.5.  
 
21. As commodity prices soared and China emerged as a major market for fuels and other 
minerals, the contribution of Africa's exports to world trade rose from 2 per cent in 2000 to 4 per cent in 2008, while that of the Middle East went up from 4 per cent to 6 per cent.   
22. Africa's exports of fuels and other minerals  grew annually by 21 per cent as a result of 
considerable investment in the sector.  Among the world's fifteen most dynamic exporters over the 
2000-2008 period, four are African oil exporters that increased their production capacity (Angola, 
Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan) and two are metal exporter that benefited from both soaring 
prices and increase in production (Mozambique and Zambia).  The region's performance was also due to booming economic ties with China, which accounted  for 11 per cent of Africa's fuel and mineral 
exports in 2008, and for 16 per cent of the re gion's manufacture imports – up from 4 per cent and 
5 per cent, respectively in 2000.  Africa's imports increased annually by 17 per cent, not only on 
account of investment-related impor ts and higher export revenue-induced expenditures, but also 
owing to the increased spending of food and fuel net-importing countries. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 14  
 
  23. Exports of the Middle East rose annually by 18 per cen t, a pace similar to that of fuel prices.  
Lebanon and Jordan, two of the region's non-oil exporte rs, raised their exports  even faster, by an 
annual 22 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.   
24. Fuels and other minerals also account for a large portion of Latin America's exports 
(35 per cent in 2008).  The region also benefited from high world prices, but its exports grew by 
12 per cent per year, slower than the developing economies' average.  The region's manufacture 
exports were in effect held back by Mexico's modest performance.   
25. Boosted by the reinforcement of its ties with th e European Union, developing Europe posted 
outstanding export and import performances, grow ing annually by 21 per cent and 19 per cent, 
respectively. 
26. Developing Asia is by far the largest tradi ng region of the developing economies, accounting 
for 56 per cent of the group's total trade (exports pl us imports) and for 76 per cent of its manufacture 
exports.  From 2000 to 2008, China's exports expand ed by an annual average of 24 per cent and lifted 
the share of the region's exports in world trade fro m 18 per cent to 21 per cent.  Similarly its imports, 
growing by 22 per cent per annum, entirely accounted for the 4 percentage point increase in 
developing Asia's share in world imports.  The six East Asian traders (NICs6)
11 saw their exports rise 
by a relatively moderate 10 per cent, mainly due to  the decline of their office and telecom equipment 
sector (from 41 per cent of their total exports in 2000 down to 27 per cent in 2008).  Among the other developing Asian economies, India and Viet Na m posted very strong annual import growth 
(respectively 24 per cent and 23 per cent) and export gr owth (20 per cent each).  On the other hand, 
Philippines, relying on trade in electronic products to a great extent, saw its exports and imports 
increase on average by respectively 3 per cent and 6 per cent per year. 
5. Direction of trade 
Chart 8:  Origin and destinatio n of developing economies' trade  
by economic groupings, 2000-2008  
 
(Billion dollars) 
0500100015002000250030003500
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008South-South tradeEx ports to developed 
and CIS countriesImports from 
developed and CIS countries
 
 
                                                      
11 The composition is provided in Appendix 9.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 15 
 
 
  27. South-South trade12 rose on average by 18 per cent per year from 2000 to 2008;  much faster 
than developing economies' exports to and impor ts from developed and CIS countries (respectively 
13 per cent and 11 per cent).  In 2008, South-South trade amounted to US$2,774 billion, representing 
46 per cent of all developing economies' e xports and 54 per cent of their imports. 
28. The expansion of South-South trade was prin cipally driven by Asian trade with other 
developing regions, which consis ts mainly of fuels and other mineral product imports (about 
80 per cent of the region's imports from other de veloping regions) and exports of manufactures 
(81 per cent of Asia's exports to other developing regions).  These rose on average by more than 20 per cent per year between 2000 and 2008, lifting the share of Asia extra-trade in South-South trade from 27 per cent to 36 per cent.  China multiplie d its trade value with non-Asian developing 
economies by 10 over the 2000-2008 period.  But China' s expansion was not the only reason for this 
spectacular growth as the corresponding increase fo r other developing Asian economies was a sound 
19 per cent per year.  Together, China and India's im ports of fuels and other minerals accounted for 
40 per cent of all developing Asia's imports from other developing economies in 2008;  the 
corresponding share in 2000 was 24 per cent. 
Chart 9:  Main regional merchandise flows in South-South trade, 2000 and 2008  
 
(Percentage) 
2008
12%17%45%
80%
7%20%Developing 
Asia trade with developing economies with 
non-Asian 
developingIntra-
developing 
Asia2000
19%
5%81%54%
13%
9%Developing 
Asia trade with developing economieswith 
non-Asian 
developingIntra-
developing 
Asia
Trade among non-Asian 
developing economiesImports of fuels and mining products
Ex ports of m anufactures
Other trade flows between develo ping Asia and non-Asia develo ping
 
 
29. On the other hand, intra-developing Asia trade grew annually by 16 per cent on average.  It 
accounted for 45 per cent of South-South trade in 2008, against 54 per cent in 2000.  Merchandise trade between China and other developing Asian ec onomies grew on average by 21 per cent per year 
between 2000 and 2008.  However, if China is  excluded, trade among developing Asian economies 
grew only by 12 per cent per year. 
30. Trade among developing economies outside Asia  represented 20 per cent of South-South 
trade in 2008, a share virtually unchanged since 2000.   Its dollar value rose by 19 per cent, a growth 
which was not only backed by the rise of fuel and mi neral prices but also by the Middle East region's 
dynamic manufacture exports, in particular the United Arab Emirates' re-export activity. 
                                                     
 
12 South-South trade refers to trade flows among developing economies. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 16  
 
  C. 
TRADE IN COMMERCIAL SERVICES  
31. At present, the main source of existing statistics on trade in commercial services is the 
balance-of-payments (BOP) framework .  However, BOP data alone ca nnot provide a complete picture 
of the international supply of services as defined in the General Agreement on Trade in Services 
(GATS).  Services transactions in the BOP (usually named "trade in commercial services") provide a 
measure of the supply of services through GATS mode  1, mode 2 and mode 4, but services supplied 
through the establishment of a commercial presence in a foreign economy (mode 3) are virtually not captured.
13  Furthermore, statistics compiled on commercial presence within the new framework of 
Foreign Affiliates Statistics (FATS) are at pres ent mainly available for the developed economies.14  
Thus, the analysis of the international supply of services by developing economies in this Section is 
essentially based on BOP statistics. 
Chart 10:  Developing economies' trade in commercial services (BOP basis), 2000-2008  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
0200400600800100012001400
2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 2008Billion dollars
05101520253035
Percentage share
Ex ports Im ports
Share in world ex ports (right-hand scale) Share in world imports (right-hand scale)
 
 
32. Growing at a faster pace th an developed countries, devel oping economies are increasingly 
participating in world trade in commercial services.   In 2008, their share of world exports reached 
27 per cent, up from 24 per cent in 2000, while on  the imports side their share increased from 
28 per cent to 32 per cent.  As in merchandise trad e, developing economies' contribution to world 
commercial services exports remained stable  between 2000 and 2003, accelerating as from 2004 
under the drive of dynamic exporters especially in developing Asia. 
33. Developing economies increased their share in wo rld exports of both transportation services 
and travel.  In the case of transportation services, th eir exports rose to account for 30 per cent of the 
world in 2008, up from 25 per cent in 2000.  This is mainly due to the fast rise of China's transportation services exports.  In 2008, the economy alone accounted for 14 per cent of transportation services exported by the developing group,  compared to 4 per cent in 2000.  In 2008, 
more than one third of world receipts of travel, whether for personal or for business purposes, accrued 
                                                     
 
13 With an exception for the BOP item construction for which recorded payments are deemed to refer to 
trade in services through modes 3 and/or 4. 
14 Hong Kong, China;  and Israel are currently the only developing economies compiling FATS 
statistics on a regular basis.   WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 17 
 
 
  to the developing economies.  In 2000, their shar e was at 29 per cent.  However, the share of 
developing economies' exports of other comme rcial services exports hovers around 21-22 per cent 
despite the presence of some of the most dynami c world exporters within the developing group.15 
Table 4:  Developing economies' participation in world trade in commercial services  
by main balance-of-payments category, 2000-2008  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
  Exports  Imports 
  Value  Share in 
world trade  Annual 
change  Value  Share in 
world trade  Annual 
change 
  2008   00 08  00-08   2008  00 08  00-08 
Total commercial 
services 1030  24 27  14  1102  28 32  13 
Transportation services 269  25 30  15  433  33 41  15 
Travel 326  29 34  11  241  25 28  11 
Other commercial 
services 435  21 22  15  428  26 27  13 
 
34. Since 2000, the share of developing economies in world imports of transportation services has 
grown significantly, from 33 per cent in 2000 to 41 per cent in 2008.  In this period, China and India saw their imports of transportation services increase by 22 per cent on average per year and became the leading importers of transportation services within the developing group.  Compared to 2000, 
travel expenditures by developing economies incre ased by three percentage points to 28 per cent.  
Travel imports by the United Arab Emirates (i.e. expenditures of UAE residents while travelling in 
foreign countries) were among the fastest growing (over 20 per cent on average per year in this 
period), which placed them among the world's 15 leading importers.   
35. Despite China and India doubling their share of world imports of other commercial services 
between 2000 and 2008, the overall share of deve loping economies in world imports of other 
commercial services remained st eady at about 27 per cent. 
1. Developing economies' trade in commercial services by region 
36. In 2008, around two thirds of developing economies' exports of commercial services 
originated from developing Asia.  The increased par ticipation of developing economies in world trade 
in commercial services is predominantly due to the ra pid growth of the region's trade in commercial 
services, with exports increasing by 15 per cent per year on average and imports by 14 per cent since 2000.  For example, between 2000 and 2008, Chin a's exports grew annually by 22 per cent on 
average, and last year the economy became th e third leading exporter of commercial services 
(counting the European Union as one).  In 2000, it ranked sixth.   
37. Exports of Africa and the Middle East, whic h accounted respectively for 2 per cent and 
3 per cent of world trade in 2008, rose annually by 14 per cent.  Exports of developing European and Latin American economies increased at a pace sl ower than the group's average (11 per cent and 
10 per cent respectively).  
38. Latin America's imports grew by a moderate 9 pe r cent per year during 2000-2008.  All other 
regions posted fast increases in their commercial services imports, ranging from 14 per cent to 
                                                     
 
15 Although some recent im provements have been made, it should  be noted that some developing 
economies may not collect informat ion for all categories of other co mmercial services transactions. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 18  
 
  17 per cent annual growth.  Developing Asian economies, with US$642 billion, accounted for 
58 per cent of developing economies' imports. 
Table 5:  Trade in commercial services by region and selected economies, 2000-2008  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
  Exports  Imports 
  Value  share in 
world trade  Annual 
change  Value  share in 
world trade  Annual 
change 
  2008   00 08  00-08   2008   00 08  00-08 
Developing economies  1030  24 27  14  1102  28 32  13 
Latin America 127  4 3  10  142  5 4  9 
Brazil 29  1 1  16  44  1 1  14 
Developing Europe 60  2 2  11  29  1 1  14 
Turkey 34  1 1  8  16  1 0  10 
Africa 88  2 2  14  121  3 3  16 
Egypt 25  1 1  12  16  0 0  11 
Middle East 97  2 3  14  168  3 5  17 
Israel 24  1 1  6  20  1 1  7 
Developing Asia  658  14 17  15  642  16 18  14 
China 146  2 4  22  158  2 5  20 
India 103  ... 3  ...  84  ... 2  ... 
Memorandum items              
World  3778  100 100  12  3489  100 100  12 
Developed economies 2664  74 71  12  2273  71 65  10 
Commonwealth of 
Independent States 84   1 2   22  114   2 3   22 
LDCs (49) 17e  0 0  14  46e  1 1  17 
 ePreliminary estimate.  
 Note: 0 refer to value or percentage lower than 0.5.  
 
2. Services categories:  exports of oth er commercial services take the lead 
Chart 11:  Developing economies' export of commercial services by category, 2000-2008  
 
(Percentage) 
2000
Other 
commercial 
services 38%
Travel 38%Transport 
24%2008
Other 
commercial 
services 42%Transport 
26%
Travel 32%
 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 19 
 
 
  39. The structure of developing economies' e xports changed over the period 2000-2008, 
mirroring developments at the world level.  Desp ite the increases in oil prices, which represent an 
important part of the cost of transport, the shar e of transportation services in developing economies' 
exports of commercial services gained only 2 percenta ge points, from 24 per cent to 26 per cent.  The 
contribution of travel exports declined significantly – from 38 per cent in 2000 to 32 per cent in 2008.  
This reflects the growing importance of exports of  other commercial services, which increased their 
share from 38 per cent to 42 per cent of the total in 2008.  However, travel receipts remain a 
significant and growing source of revenue for ma ny developing economies, in particular LDCs.16 
40. Data availability does not allow for a brea kdown of other commercial services trade of 
developing economies for 2008.  In 2007, the cate gory "other business services" which includes, 
inter alia , trade-related services (such as merchanting17) and business, professional and technical 
services, accounted for 60 per cent of the developi ng economies' exports of other commercial services 
or some US$225 billion.  This share is much hi gher than in the developed economies (44 per cent) 
and the CIS (54 per cent).   
41. Exports of computer and information servi ces represented 12 per cent in 2007.  Nearly 
30 per cent of computer services exported to the world originated from developing economies, and 
their share has steadily increased since 2000.  Fina ncial services were the third largest category of 
developing economies' exports of ot her commercial services with a share of 10 per cent.  Finally, 
other sectors represented between 2 and 6 per cent of developing economies' exports of commercial 
services.  
Chart 12:  Developing economies' exports of other commercial services by category, 2007  
 
(Percentage) 
Construction
4%
Other business services
60%Computer and 
information services
12%
Royalties and licence 
fees
2%Financial services
10%Insurance services
4%
Com m unications 
services
6%
Personal, cultural and 
recreational services
2%
 
 
42. It should be noted that a number of services categories where the temporary presence of 
natural persons (mode 4 of the GATS)  is deemed to be an important component show a relatively high 
growth rate for developing economies over the peri od 2000-2007:  computer and information services 
                                                      
16 See Market Access for Products and Services of Export Interest to Least-Developed Countries,  
WT/COMTD/LDC/W/42 Rev.1 and WT/COMTD/LDC/W/46. 
17 Merchanting takes place when the resident of  an economy (merchant) buys a good from a 
non-resident and subsequently resells it to another n on-resident. The value of merchanting is given by the 
difference between the value of good when acquired and the value of good when resold. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 20  
 
  (22 per cent), construction (17 per cent) and mi scellaneous business, professional and technical 
services (15 per cent).
18  
3. Direction of trade 
43. At present, very few countries compile sta tistics broken down by trading partner for 
commercial services, and most of them are develope d countries.  Thus, to analyze the direction of 
trade in commercial services of the developing economi es, it is often necessary to use mirror statistics 
of developed countries.  According to these partial mirror data, it would appear that, in 2007, between 
35 and 41 per cent of commercial services importe d by developed countries originated from the 
developing world. 
44. In 2007, EU(27) imports from developing economies amounted to some US$195 billion, 
accounting for 35 per cent of total commercial services imports from non-EU countries, up from 
33 per cent in 2004 (the earliest year for which EU(27)  statistics are available).  In 2007, more than 
half of the EU payments to developing econom ies for transportation services were made to 
developing Asia.  The main recipients of extra-EU(27)  travel expenditure (35 per cent) were in Africa.  
Developing Asia was the main origin also for othe r commercial services, in particular, accounting for 
64 per cent of financial services, 70 per cent of co mputer services and 46 per cent of other business 
services imported by EU members from the devel oping world.  Overall, developing Asia accounted 
for 41 per cent of EU(27) imports of other commercial services from developing economies, compared to 37 per cent in 2004.  
Chart 13:  EU (27) imports from developing economies by region, 2007  
 
(Billion dollars) 
0102030405060708090
Latin America Developing Europe Africa Middle East Developing Asia
Transport Travel Other commercial services
 
 
45. In the United States, imports from developi ng economies (excluding developing Europe) 
were at some US$109 billion, representing about one th ird of its total commercial services imports in 
2007, a share almost unchanged over recent years.  As in the case of the Europe an Union, the share of 
Asia in imports of commercial services from developing economies has increased rapidly, from 
42 per cent in 2004 to 48 per cent in 2007.  Payments  for transportation services were largely destined 
                                                      
18 Please note that these values are deemed to cover tr ansactions covering modes 1 and 4, and mode 4 is 
most likely to represent the smallest share of the amounts. As specific statistics on mode 4 are currently not 
available it is not possible to provide more specific information regarding this mode of supply.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 21 
 
 
  to developing Asian economies (67 per cent).  However,  geographical proximity appears to play a role 
on the origin of commercial services imports.  Aro und 40 per cent of total im ports from developing 
economies originated from Latin America, whic h accounted for 54 per cent of the US travel 
expenditure in developing economies and over 43 per cent of imports of other commercial services.  
46. In 2007, Japanese imports from developing eco nomies reached over US$61 billion.  Over 
40 per cent of Japan's imported commercial servi ces were from developing economies, largely from 
Asia (72 per cent).  Around 15 per cent originated from the Middle East.  Transportation services were imported mainly from the developing economies (60 per cent), predominantly from 
"neighbouring" Asian economies (Singapore, 8 per cent; Hong Kong, China, 7 per cent;  and China, 
6 per cent).  Developing economies accounted for some 30 per cent of Japan's imports of other 
commercial services.  With an overall share of 10 per cent, Singapore, China, and the United Arab 
Emirates were the main developi ng partners for other commercial ser vices imports, mostly relating to 
payments for the supply of other business services.   Japanese travel expenditure in the developing 
economies represented around half of Japan's total tr avel imports, mainly in the Republic of Korea 
(10 per cent), China (9 per cent) and Chinese Taipei (5 per cent).   
47. Statistics for Hong Kong, China, among the few developing economies compiling data on its 
bilateral flows in commercial services, show that  a large part of its trade takes place with its 
developing peers.  For example, in 2007, some 48 per cent of the economy's exports and 51 per cent 
of its imports were destined to other developing economies, largely in the same region.  Hong Kong, 
China's main export partners were China (25 pe r cent), Chinese Taipei (6 per cent), and Singapore 
(3 per cent).  In 2007, more than half of Hong  Kong, China's exports of commercial services were 
other commercial services, in particular merchanti ng and other trade-related services (30 per cent) and 
financial services (15 per cent).  Developing econom ies accounted for 38 per cent of merchanting and 
trade-related services exports, and for 17 per cent of financial services exports.   
4. Indicators of commercial presen ce for developing economies 
48. Establishing a commercial presence abroad is a means used by service suppliers to provide 
services in a host country where there is need for pr oximity with the consumer.  However, it may also 
be seen as a way for a company to benefit from the sp ecialization in specific sectors in order to supply 
better and cheaper services (either to outsource some  activities or to further provide these services on 
the export market).  Commercial presence has been  an increasingly important mode of supply for 
developing economies.  According to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2009, outward foreign 
direct investments (FDI) from developing economies
19 in the service sector amounted to 
US$98 billion in 2005-2007, up from US$2 billion in the years 1989-1991.  Within the same period, 
their service-related FDI inflows al so increased considerably, from US$11 billion to US$208 billion.  
Finance and business services were the main target sectors. 
49. Foreign Affiliates Statistics (FATS) can be  used to analyze services supplied through 
commercial presence (mode 3).  Data on the activiti es of foreign-controlled affiliates in the compiling 
economy are usually referred to as inward FATS, and those relating to the controlled foreign affiliates 
of the compiling economy that are established abroad are referred to as outward FATS.  It should be 
noted, however, that as FATS are a new statistical dom ain, data availability is still low (data mainly 
compiled by developed economies and for recent year s, i.e. mainly starting in 2003-2004), coverage 
of services activities is not always complete a nd confidentiality and quality issues create additional 
difficulties for interpreting these statistics. 
50. At the time of writing, only two developing economies compiled such information for recent 
years, namely Israel (inward and outward FATS) and Hong Kong, China (inward only).  Available 
                                                      
19 Based on UNCTAD's definition. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 22  
 
  inward data suggest that majority-owned foreig n affiliates established in these two economies, as for 
many other economies around the world, are importa ntly involved in wholesale and retail trade 
activities.  However, it is interesting to note that  in these two economies foreign affiliates are also 
heavily involved in activities relating to business serv ices, such as financial and professional services 
for Hong Kong, China and computer and research  and development services for Israel.  In 
Hong Kong, China over 2,600 affilia tes engaged in financial and professional services were present 
employing 246,000 persons representing a total of business receipts of US$105 billion for 2007.  In 
2005, in Israel, foreign affiliates engaged in computer and research and development services 
employed 24,000 employees and presented an output of  US$4.5 billion, representing slightly less than 
half of the output of research and development (R &D) firms in the country.  Actually, both these 
economies are specialised in services segments, wi th the aim of exporting these services to other 
economies. 
51. Statistics on the sales of subsidiaries of Israel show that a number of computer and related 
services mother companies also establish subsidia ries abroad in order to supply their services to 
foreign consumers (approximately US$1.5 billion of sales in 2005). 
52. It is not possible to conduct a broader analysis of the activities at the level of developing 
economies as a whole, and such an exercise will only be possible once a reasonable set of economies 
compile such information.  However a partial pi cture of commercial presence links with developed 
economies can be drawn by studying the "mirror" FATS which are compiled by countries such as the United States, Japan and selected EU countries.  Ex isting statistics show that trade in services through 
commercial presence of developing economies in the EU is relatively small.  In 2006, the most recent 
year for which data are available, only 6 per cent of the total turnover
20 of foreign affiliates engaged in 
services activities established in Germany origin ated from developing economies, compared to 
4 per cent in 2003.  In France, the share of deve loping economies in total inward FATS turnover was 
3 per cent in 2003 and 4 per cent in 2006.  In the United Kingdom, the share was 9 per cent in 2005.  In Japan, in 2004, some 18 per cent of total sales of  majority-owned foreign affiliates was generated 
by developing economies, mainly from developing Asia .  In addition, it should be noted that, for the 
above countries, figures refer mainly to the tota l sales of wholesale and retail trade affiliates.  
Therefore, for these industries, the total turnover mostly  covers the value of goods sold rather than the 
service fee earned.   
Chart 14:  Services supplied to the United Stat es through majority-owned foreign affiliates  
of developing economies, 2007  
(Percentage) 
Developing 
econom ies
8%Developing Asia
3%
Latin America
3%
Middle East
2% Africa
0.2%Other economies
92%
 
 
                                                      
20 Total turnover also includes sales of goods which result from secondary activities of affiliates 
primarily engaged in services.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 23 
 
 
  53. Although the United States compiles similar sta tistics on total turnover, it also publishes 
separately total services supplied by foreign affilia tes which conceptually is more in line with 
information needs in relation to GATS.  These data show that in 2007, services supplied to the United 
States by developing economies (excluding developing Europe) through their majority-owned affiliates reached US$55 billion, accounting for 8 per cent of total services supplied through foreign 
affiliates, compared to 6 per cent in 2004.  In the period 2004-2007, the value of these services 
increased by 17 per cent on average per year.  Most  services supplied by developing economies in the 
United States originated from affiliates owned by Latin American economies (39 per cent, largely in 
the Caribbean), and developing Asia (37 per cent, mainly the Republic of Korea;  India;  and 
Hong Kong, China – 7 to 10 per cent each).  Mi ddle Eastern and African economies accounted 
respectively for 21 per cent and 2 per cent of tota l services supplied through foreign affiliates of 
developing economies in the United States.  
Chart 15:  Services supplied by the United St ates through its majority-owned affiliates  
established in developing economies, 2007  
 
(Percentage) 
Other economies
76%Middle East
1%Africa
1%Latin America
10%Developing Asia
12%Developing 
economies
24%
 
 
54. Similar information can be derived for forei gn affiliates established in developing economies 
(i.e. "mirror" outward FATS of developed economi es).  For instance US majority-owned affiliates 
established in developing econom ies (excluding developing Eur ope) supplied US$248 billion worth 
of services in 2007.  These services grew by 20 pe r cent on average per year between 2004 and 2007.  
Supply through affiliates established in developi ng economies accounted for 24 per cent of total 
services supplied by affiliates of US firms establis hed abroad, compared to 21 per cent in 2004.  
Around half of these supplies took place through affiliat es in developing Asia (Singapore 13 per cent, 
Hong Kong, China 11 per cent, and China 6 per cent), 43 per cent in Latin America (Mexico 
14 per cent and Brazil 10 per cent), 5 per cent in  Africa and 3 per cent in the Middle East. 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 24  
 
  III. TRADE DEVELOPMENTS BETWEEN 2006 AND 2008
21 
A. COMMODITY PRICES WEIGH HE AVIER ON DEVELOPING ECONOMIES ' TRADE BALANCES  
1. Sharp deterioration in merchandise trade balances 
55. In line with preceding years, international merc handise trade continued to increase rapidly in 
2007 and during the first half of 2008.  The impact of the financial crisis only became visible after the 
September 2008 turmoil in financial markets.  As  a result, the 2008 figure for world merchandise 
trade still shows a positive annual rate of growth of 15 per cent, at only a slightly slower pace than in 
2007 (16 per cent), but still above the average of 12 per cent observed since 2000.  In real terms 
however, world merchandise trade slowed down from an annual growth of 8 per cent in 2006 to 
6 per cent in 2007 then 1.5 per cent in 2008.   
56. Besides the financial crisis, the 2006-2008 peri od was characterised by a continued sharp 
increase in the price of primary commodities.  Cr ude oil price skyrocketed from US$53 per barrel in 
January 2007 to over US$130 in July 2008.  The sharp rise in prices of minerals and non-ferrous 
metals continued in early 2007 and fluctuated th en around that high level until mid-2008.  On an 
annual average, they increased by 18 per cent in 20 07 and decreased by 8 per cent the following year. 
Chart 16:  Selected flows in developing economies' trade and world prices, 2006-2008  
 
(Annual percentage change) 
World export prices
- 2 0 - 1 0 0 1 02 03 04 0EnergyCerealsWorld ex port
unit valueMetalsCrude
petroleumAgricultural
products
2007 2008Dev eloping economies' exports/imp orts
-10 0 10 20 30 40Fuel im portsFood im portsTotal ex portsNon-fuel
m ineral ex portsFuel ex portsAgricultural
ex ports
2007 2008
 
 
57. Another substantial developmen t over the 2006-2008 period was the food crisis, which riots 
from Haiti to Bangladesh or Egypt brought to the fore front of the world's attention.  Beginning late 
2006, droughts in large grain-pr oducing countries as well as rising oil and fertilizer prices prompted 
increases in cereal prices to unprecedented levels.  The price of rice doubled in 2008.  On average, 
cereal prices increased successively by 31 per cent and 39 per cent in 2007 and 2008, a sharp 
acceleration compared with 2006 (22 per cent). 
                                                      
21 Trade developments between 2006  and 2008 follow the period examined in the previous study 
(WT/COMTD/W/162).  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 25 
 
 
  58. A majority of developing economies (119 out of 156 in 2008) have a deficit in their 
merchandise trade, and these price hikes caused the import bill to weigh considerably heavier on their 
economies.  Between 2006 and 2008, the ratio of the trade balance to GDP deteriorated for 
93 developing economies out of 125 for which statis tics are available.  Import-dependent small island 
and landlocked countries felt the deterioration hardest.  In countries like Botswana, Mongolia, 
Madagascar, Tonga, Seychelles and Lesotho, the weight  of the trade deficit on GDP gained more than 
15 percentage points.  Still the developing econo mies recorded collectively a positive merchandise 
trade balance of about US$0.5 billion (unchanged since 2006) reflecting mainly large surpluses of 
China and oil exporting economies.  Oil exporte rs, such as Equatorial Guinea, Angola and 
Saudi Arabia, benefited from record oil prices and sa w the contribution of their trade surplus to GDP 
rise significantly in just two years. 
Table 6:  Developing economies with large merchandise trade surpluses and deficits, 2006-2008  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Ratio to GDP  Value  Ratio to GDP 
Surplus 2008  2006 2008 Deficit 2008  2006 2008 
Equatorial Guinea* 13.0  64 70 Maldives* -1.1  77 84 
Angola* 46.0  51 55 Liberia* -0.6  50 66 
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 51.6  67 52 Seychelles -0.5  39 63 
Saudi Arabia 198.3  40 42 Sao Tome and 
Principe* -0.1  51 59 
Kuwait 62.2  38 ... Djibouti* -0.5  37 58 
Chad* 2.8  33 34 Montenegro -2.1  40 47 
Trinidad and Tobago 7.0  40 29 Cape Verde** -0.8  43 46 Papua New Guinea 2.2  34 27 Jordan -9.2  43 46 
Oman 14.7  30 ... Guyana -0.5  33 43 
Algeria 39.8  28 23 Lebanon -12.3  31 43 United Arab Emirates 65.9  28 ... Haiti* -1.7  23 24 
Malaysia 42.6  19 22 India -115.9  6 10 
Nigeria 39.1  25 18 Turkey -70.0  10 9 Iran, Islamic Rep. of 56.0  16 15 Mexico -31.4  2 3 
China 295.8  7 8 Egypt -23.5  10 14 
 *LDCs. **Cape Verde was cl assified LDC up to 2007. 
 Note:  Data include Secretariat estimates. 
 
2. Commercial service balances also deteriorate 
59. Available 2008 BOP data indicate that even when commercial services are considered, a 
majority of developing economies (i.e. 69 out of 98) still posted a deficit in their combined balance of 
trade in goods22 and commercial services.  Compared with 2006, this balance deteriorated for 76 
developing economies which either saw their total trade surplus decrease or their deficit increase. 
60. In 2008, 28 developing economies out of 98 pos ted deficits in both balances of goods and 
commercial services.  However, a majority (37) including India, Turkey, Egypt and most tourism-
based economies like Mauritius and the Dominican Republic compensate partly their negative goods 
balance with a surplus in commercial services.  Th is surplus – although often substantial – remains 
generally lower than the goods deficit (represented by a ratio lower than 1 in Chart 17 below).  
Macao, China and Hong Kong, China are exceptions as their net service exports largely outrun their 
deficit in goods. 
                                                      
22 Trade in goods measured on a BOP basis.  This differs from mercha ndise trade statistics presented 
elsewhere in this report.  One of the main deviation lies in the valuation of imports, which in merchandise trade statistics include freight transportatio n and insurance costs (c.i.f. valuatio n) whereas these costs are excluded 
from BOP-based goods imports (f.o.b. valuation) and classified as services. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 26  
 
  Chart 17:  Size of the surplus in commercial services of larg e merchandise importers, 2006-2008  
 
(Ratio of commercial service deficit to goods surplus) 
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2EgyptTurkeyIndiaHong Kong, ChinaMoroccoLebanonCape Verde**MontenegroSeychellesMaldives*
2006 20082.0
2.5
 
 *LDCs. **Cape Verde was cl assified LDC up to 2007. 
 A ratio of 1 indicates that the surplus in trade in commercial services is equa l to the deficit in goods. 
 
61. Three developing economies among those for which data are available posted surpluses in 
both balances in 2008 (Bahrain, Malaysia and Singa pore).  However, virtually all economies with 
large merchandise trade surpluses such  as Brazil, China, the United Arab Emirates and oil exporters in 
general, are net importers of services.   
 
Chart 18:  Size of the deficit in commercial services of large merchandise exporters, 2006-2008  
 
(Ratio of commercial service deficit to goods surplus) 
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0ChinaUnited Arab EmiratesBrazilAlgeriaOmanPapua New GuineaChad*KuwaitEquatorial Guinea*Congo
2006 2008
 
 *LDCs.  
 A ratio of 1 indicates that the deficit in trade in  commercial services is equal to the surplus in goods. 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 27 
 
 
  B. MERCHANDISE TRADE BY REGION  
62. During the 2006 to 2008 period, merchandise trad e of the developing economies continued 
growing faster than the world average.  Their im ports rose annually by 20 per cent while exports grew 
by 18 per cent, due not only to the rising commodity prices but also to relatively fast growing exchanges in real terms.  The volume of devel oping economies' exports increased by 9 per cent in 
2007 and 3.5 per cent in 2008, whereas the corres ponding figures for developed economies were 
4.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.  Growth s in the volume of devel oping economies' imports 
were even stronger, at 11 per cent in 2007 and 7 per cent in 2008.   
63. Exports of Africa and the Middle East comprise over 70 per cent of fuels and other minerals.  
They rose respectively by 23 per cent and 24 per cent per year on average, reflecting changes in fuel 
prices but also some increase in volume terms, es timated at 3 per cent per year for both regions.  
Developing European countries also saw their e xports increase annually by 24 per cent between 2006 
and 2008, a pace slower than that of oil and gas-rich transition economies. 
Table 7:  Developing economies merchandise trade by regions and selected economies, 2006-2008  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage change) 
  Exports  Imports 
  Value  Annual % change  Value  Annual % change 
  2008   2006-08 2007 2008  2008   2006-08 2007 2008 
              
Worlda 15717  15 16 15  16127  15 15 15 
             
Developing economies a 5992  18 17 19  5506  20 18 21 
Latin America 891  14 12 16  919  20 19 22 
Mexico 292  8 9 7  323  10 10 9 
Other Latin America 600  17 14 21  596  28 25 30 
Developing Europe 168  24 26 22  283  22 24 20 
Turkey 132  24 25 23  202  20 22 19 
Africa 558  23 18 28  466  25 24 26 
North Africa 206  23 16 31  165  33 32 33 
Sub-Saharan Africa 352  22 18 27  301  22 20 23 
South Africa 81  18 20 16  99  12 12 12 
Middle East 1021  24 16 33  586  25 24 25 
Developing Asia
a 3353  16 18 15  3253  18 16 20 
China  1428  21 26 17  1132  20 21 18 
NICs (6)a 1410  11 11 12  1429  14 11 17 
Other 515  17 16 17  691  25 20 29 
Memorandum items:            
Developed economies 9022  13 15 11  10123  12 13 11 Commonwealth of 
Independent States 703  28 21 35  498  33 35 32 
LDCs (49) 174   29 24 35  158   25 23 27 
 aExcluding Hong Kong, China re-exports or imports for re-exports. 
 
64. Sluggish demand from North American countries slowed down Mexico's trade performance 
and held back Latin America's exports, which re gistered the lowest increase among developing 
regions.  Despite sustained economic growth in Chin a, India and Viet Nam, developing Asia's trade 
performance was below the average of developing econom ies, in particular owing to the region's high 
share of manufactures exports (price increases fo r these products were lower than for primary 
commodities).  The region's exports and imports grew by 16 per cent and 18 per cent per year, respectively.   WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 28  
 
  65. On the import side all developing regions regi stered impressive growth, both in value terms 
(ranging from 18 per cent to 25 per cent) and in vol ume (ranging from 7 per cent to 14 per cent annual 
average growth).  
1. Latin America 
Chart 19:  Latin America merchandise exports by destination, 2006 and 2008  
 
(Percentage) 
2006
Europe 
(developed) 
14%
Other 5%Intra-Latin 
America 
18%Developing 
economies 
29%Developing 
Asia 7%
other 
developing 
3%North 
America 
(excl. 
Me x i c o) 
51%2008
Europe 
(developed) 
15%
North 
America 
(excl. 
Me x i c o) 
45%
other 
developing 
4%Developing 
Asia 10%
Developing 
economies 
35%Intra-Latin 
America 
21%
Other 5%
 
 
66. Latin America's exports to North America – their main destination – posted a very low 
progression (6 per cent) between 2006 and 2008.  The region's exports consequently grew slightly 
slower than the world average,  despite the sound expansion of intra-regional trade (23 per cent 
average annual increase) and demand from developi ng Asia for its primary products (rising annually 
by 36 per cent). 
67. Contrasts in export performances were particularly high among countries in the region.  Most 
major traders (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, th e Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and Ecuador) 
posted strong annual export growth at 20 per cent or more, which only a handful of the smaller 
economies attained.  Sluggish demand from North Amer ica affected particularly Mexico, which saw 
its exports and imports grow respectively by a m odest 8 per cent and 10 per cent per year.  Chile, 
another major trader, saw its exports increase even l ess (6 per cent) because of the 2 per cent decrease 
in copper prices in 2008.   
68. In contrast to exports, Latin America's imports  rose very rapidly, at an annual rate of 
20 per cent (28 per cent if Mexico is excluded).  Although this increase partly reflects commodity price hikes, it also stems from rising manufacture imports from developing Asia (especially China) 
and the dynamism of intra-regional trade.   WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 29 
 
 
  Table 8:  Summary indicators on Latin America merchandise trade, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage and number) 
  Exports    Imports  
 2006-08 2007 2008  2006-08 2007 2008 
Trade value, annual % change 14 12 16  20 19 22 
Trade volume, annual % change 1 3 -1  10 12 8         
Economies with value growth higher 
than world trade (number, total= 39) 17 12 17  21 20 22         
Main traders (annual % change)        
Mexico 8 9 7 10 10 9 
Brazil 20 17 23 38 32 44 
Bolivarian Rep. of Venezuela 20 6 35 22 37 8 Chile 6 15 -2 27 23 31 
Argentina 23 20 26 30 31 28 
Above 5, share in the region - 81 81  - 74 73         
Region trade by product (annual % 
change)        
Agricultural products 23 21 24  29 26 31 
Fuels 20 7 34  33 18 51 
Other mining products 13 21 6  15 16 14 
Manufactures 9 10 8  18 16 19         
Product share in region's trade (%)        
Agricultural products - 18 20 - 9 9 
Fuels - 21 24 - 13 15 Other mining products - 12 11 - 3 3 
Manufactures - 46 43 - 73 70 
 
2. Developing Europe 
Chart 20:  Developing Europe merchandise exports by destination, 2006 and 2008  
 
(Percentage) 
2006
CIS 7%
Developing 
economies 
24%
Other 9%Intra-
developing 
Europe 7%Mi ddl e  
East 10%
Africa 4%Other 
developing 
3%
Europe 
(developed) 
60%2008
CIS 9%
Developing 
economies 
31%Europe 
(developed) 
53%Other 
developing 
4%
Africa 6%Middle 
East 14%
Intra-
developing 
Europe 8%Other 6%
 
 
69. Developing European countries harvested the be nefits of their recent progress in facilitating 
international trade (see Section C of the Annex) and their proximity to the European Union.  The WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 30  
 
  region's exports rose by 8 per cent per year in real  terms and 24 per cent in value terms – despite the 
region's relatively low endowment in primary commodities (about 20 per cent of its exports).  
70. Turkey alone explains most of the region's performance as it accounts for 78 per cent of its 
exports.  Its exports of transportation equipment, other machinery and other semi-manufactures to the 
European Union rose by 38 per cent in 2007 then slowed down in 2008 (11 per cent).  Exports of 
these products to the Commonwealth of Independent States rose even faster in 2007 (47 per cent) and 
in contrast accelerated in 2008 (53 per cent).  Th e country also found a booming market for its iron 
and steel products in the Middle East, multiplying these exports by four in just two years.   
71. Although smaller in size, all other countries in  the region posted impressive increases in their 
merchandise exports with the exception of Mont enegro, whose poor performance in merchandise 
trade (exports decreased by 13 per cent in 2008)  was, however, balanced by an outstanding 
performance in trade in services (see Section III.C.1 below). 
Table 9:  Summary indicators on developing Europe merchandise trade, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage and number) 
  Exports    Imports  
 2006-08 2007 2008  2006-08 2007 2008 
Trade value, annual % change 24 26 22  22 24 20 
Trade volume, annual % change 8 12 4  7 12 1         
Economies with value growth higher 
than world trade (number, total= 7) 6 6 5  7 7 6         
Main traders (annual % change)        
Turkey 24 25 23  20 22 19 
Croatia 17 19 14  20 20 19 
Serbia 31 37 24  32 41 24 
Above 3, share in the region - 93 93  - 91 90         
Region trade by product (annual % 
change)        
Agricultural products 16 17 16  28 28 28 
Fuels 33 28 39  27 23 31 Other mining products 20 27 13  36 28 44 
Manufactures 23 27 20  19 23 15         
Product share in region's trade (%)        
Agricultural products - 10 10  - 8 8 
Fuels - 6 6  - 16 18 
Other mining products - 5 4  - 6 7 Manufactures - 78 76  - 69 66 
 
3. Africa 
72. African exports in value terms expanded successive ly by 18 per cent and 28 per cent in 2007 
and 2008, mirroring mainly developments in primar y commodities (nearly 80 per cent of the region's 
exports).  High prices and strong demand stimulat ed growth in export volumes which, however, 
remained limited by supply constraints – at 3 per cent per year on average – and uneven among 
countries.  As mentioned in Section II.B.4 above, Sudan, Angola and Equatorial Guinea substantially 
raised their oil extraction capacity and doubled the value of their exports in two years.  Other oil 
exporters such as Nigeria and Chad encountered a drop in volume but, nonetheless, increased their 
export revenue by 17 per cent per year due to the increase in prices.    WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 31 
 
 
  73. The value of Africa's manufacture exports rose a nnually by a robust 20 per cent, of which one 
third was accounted for by a 39 per cent rise in chemical exports (excluding pharmaceuticals), in particular from North African countries.  The regi on's exports of iron and steel, transport equipment 
and other machinery also grew by more than 20 per cent, while clothing exports increased by 
12 per cent. 
Table 10:  Summary indicators on Africa merchandise trade, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage and number) 
  Exports    Imports  
 2006-08 2007 2008  2006-08 2007 2008 
Trade value, annual % change 23 18 28  25 24 26 
Trade volume, annual % change 3 4 2  14 14 13         
Economies with value growth higher 
than world trade (number, total= 53) 30 22 33  40 34 40         
Main traders (annual % change)        
Oil and gas exporters (8)a 27 19 35  35 31 39 
South Africa 18 20 16  12 12 12 
Egypt 20 15 25  32 36 28 Morocco 26 20 31  32 33 30 
Tunisia 29 30 27  28 27 29 
Above 12, share in the region - 84 85  - 73 74         
Region trade by product (annual % 
change)        
Agricultural products 15 13 17  32 34 30 
Fuels 25 17 33  25 14 38 
Other mining products 22 25 19  39 29 50 
Manufactures 20 17 23  23 24 22         
Product share in region's trade (%)        
Agricultural products - 7 7  - 14 14 
Fuels - 60 63  - 13 14 Other mining products - 9 8  - 2 3 
Manufactures - 19 18  - 69 66 
 aAlgeria, Angola, Chad, Equatorial  Guinea, Gabon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Nigeria and Sudan. 
 
74. China's growing demand for the region's fu els and other minerals (40 per cent annual 
increase) boosted its importance as a destination for African exports from 7 per cent in 2006 to 
9 per cent two years later, at the expense of Europe an markets.  The share of intra-regional trade, 
however, remained virtually unchanged, at about 10 per cent. 
75. Aside from the worldwide increase in food and fuel prices which weighed on the region's 
import bill, Africa also considerably expanded th e volume of its imports by about 14 per cent per 
annum. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 32  
 
  Chart 21:  Africa merchandise exports by destination, 2006 and 2008  
 
(Percentage) 
2006
N. America 
(excl. 
Me x i c o) 
22%
Developing 
economies 
31%Europe 
(developed) 
41%Other 
developing 
7%
China 7%
Africa 9%
Other 
developing 
Asia 8%Other 6%2008
N. America 
(excl. 
Me x i c o) 
22%
Other 7%Other 
developing 
Asia 8%Africa 10 %China 9%Other 
developing 
7%
Europe 
(developed) 
38%Developing 
economies 
33%
 
 
4. Middle East 
Table 11:  Summary indicators on Middle East merchandise trade, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage and number) 
  Exports    Imports  
 2006-08 2007 2008  2006-08 2007 2008 
Trade value, annual % change 24 16 33  25 24 25 
Trade volume, annual % change 3 4 1  13 14 12         
Economies with value growth higher 
than world trade (number, total= 13) 10 5 12  12 10 11         
Main traders (annual % change)        
Saudi Arabia 22 11 33  28 29 28 
United Arab Emirates 26 24 28  29 32 25 Iran, Islamic Rep. of 21 15 28  19 10 28 
Israel 14 16 12  16 17 15 
Kuwait 25 12 39  20 18 22 
Above 5, share in the region - 81 79  - 74 73         
Region trade by product (annual % 
change)        
Agricultural products 26 18 35  32 25 40 
Fuels 25 13 38  14 -11 46 Other mining products 38 27 51  25 13 37 
Manufactures 24 24 24  25 28 22         
Product share in region's trade (%)        
Agricultural products - 2 2  - 10 11 
Fuels - 70 73  - 6 7 
Other mining products - 1 2  - 2 2 Manufactures - 23 22  - 78 76 
 
76. Unsurprisingly, the Middle East exports increased  annually by 24 per cent, and all countries 
exceeded 20 per cent annual growths in their exports , with the exception of Yemen, Israel and the  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 33 
 
 
  Syrian Arab Republic.  As mentioned in Section II.B.4, Jordan and Lebanon continued registering 
growths comparable with those of oil exporters , at 22 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively. 
77. Although fuels remain by far the region's main s ource of export revenue, manufacture exports 
continued growing rapidly, at an annual rate of 24 per cent.  Even when petrochemicals are excluded, 
the region's manufacture exports are still estimated to have risen on average by 21 per cent per year.   
Chart 22:  Middle East merchandise exports by destination, 2006 and 2008  
 
(Percentage) 
2006
Developing 
economies 
54%
other 
developing 
6%Europe 
(developed) 
13%Other 
developing 
Asia 29%
China 6%M. E a st 
13%N. America 
(excl. 
Me x i c o) 
11%
Other 5%Developed 
Asia 17%2008
Developing 
economies 
56%
other 
developing 
6%Europe 
(developed) 
11%Other 
developing 
Asia 31%
China 7%M. E a st 
12%N. America 
(excl. 
Me x i c o) 
11%
Other 4%Developed 
Asia 17%
 
 
78. Similar to Africa, at the expense of European destinations, the share of developing Asia in 
Middle East total exports continued expanding from 35 per cent in 2006 to 38 per cent in 2008. 
5. Developing Asia 
79. Along with developments observed on the 2000-20 08 period in Section II.B.4 above, China 
was the main driving force behind the growth of de veloping Asia's trade.  After rising annually by 
about 20 per cent, its exports reached 43 per cent of those of developing Asia in 2008, and its imports 
35 per cent.  Manufacture exports to other deve loping economies rose by 30 per cent during the 
2006-2008 period, twice as fast as to developed economies.  In 2008, manufacture imports of the 
developing and develope d economies accounted respectively for 32 per cent and 57 per cent of 
China's total exports.  China particularly expa nded its shipments of machinery and transport 
equipment to the Commonwealth of Independent  States (58 per cent average annual increase), 
developing economies outside Asia (43 per cent), and India (56 per cent).   
80. Viet Nam and India also posted impressive growths in their merchandise trade as their 
imports increased annually by more than 30 per cent and their exports by 26 per cent and 21 per cent, 
respectively.  Conversely, the six East Asian trad ers lagged behind, owing to the stagnation of their 
exports of office and telecom equipment.  Among them, only Thailand saw its exports increase faster 
than the world average (17 per cent per annum), at a rate comparable with that of oil and gas-rich 
Indonesia.   WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 34  
 
  Table 12:  Summary indicators on developing Asia merchandise trade, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage and number) 
  Exports    Imports  
 2006-08 2007 2008  2006-08 2007 2008 
Trade value, annual % change 16 18 15  18 16 20 
Trade volume, annual % change 9 13 6  8 9 6         
Economies with value growth higher 
than world trade (number, total= 44) 17 18 20  27 21 27         
Main traders (annual % change)        
NICs (6) 11 11 12  14 11 17 
China 21 26 17  20 21 18 
India 21 22 21  30 25 35 Indonesia 16 14 18  25 15 36 
Viet Nam 26 22 30  34 40 28 
Above 10, share in the region - 96 96  - 94 94         
Region trade by product (annual % 
change)        
Agricultural products 23 23 24  24 25 23 
Fuels 29 16 44  31 15 50 
Other mining products 10 17 3  21 28 15 
Manufactures 15 18 12  13 16 11         
Product share in region's trade (%)        
Agricultural products - 6 6  - 7 7 
Fuels - 7 9  - 17 22 Other mining products - 3 2  - 7 7 
Manufactures - 83 81  - 66 62 
 Note:  Hong Kong re-exports and im ports for re-exports are excluded. 
 
81. Altogether, the NICs (6), China, India, Indonesi a and Viet Nam account for 96 per cent of the 
developing Asia's exports.  Am ong the region's smaller economies,  only 12 out of 34 saw their 
exports grow faster than the world average.  A ll in all, developing Asia's trade performance was 
below the average of the developing economies, with exports and imports growing by 16 per cent and 18 per cent per year, respectively. 
Chart 23:  China's fast-growing share in developing Asia exports, 2006 and 2008  
 
(Percentage) 
2006
Other 5%
China 
39%
NICs (6) 
46%India 5%Indonesia 
4%Viet  Na m 
2%2008
Other 4%Vie t  Na m 
2%Indonesia 
4%
India 5%
NICs (6) 
42%China 
43%
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 35 
 
 
  C. TRADE IN COMMERCIAL SERVICES BY REGION23 
82. In the period 2006-2008, world exports of commercial services grew by 16 per cent on 
average per year, reaching US$3,778 billion in 2 008.  This growth was more pronounced for 
developing economies than developed countries (18 pe r cent, compared to 15 per cent).  Developing 
economies' imports of commercial services also increased  faster than the world average, registering a 
19 per cent average annual growth. 
Table 13:  Developing economies commercial services trade  
by region and selected economies, 2006-2008  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage change) 
  Exports  Imports 
  Value  Annual % change  Value  Annual % change 
  2008   2006-08 2007 2008  2008   2006-08 2007 2008 
World  3778  16 20 12  3489  15 19 12 
             
Developing economies 1030  18 22 14  1102  19 22 15 
Latin America 127  15 16 14  142  17 17 17 
Brazil 29  27 26 27  44  28 28 28 
Developing Europe 60  20 18 22  29  25 32 18 
Turkey 34  17 13 22  16  25 36 15 
Africa 88  18 23 13  121  23 30 15 
Egypt 25  25 24 26  16  26 27 25 
Middle East 97  16 14 19  168  24 30 19 
 Israel 24  11 10 13  20  16 20 11 
Developing Asia 658  19 24 13  642  17 20 14 
China  146  27 33 20  158  25 29 22 
India 103  20 23 17  84  20 22 18 
Memorandum items:            
Developed economies 2664  15 19 11  2273  13 16 10 
Commonwealth of 
Independent States 84  28 27 28  114  28 30 25 LDCs (49) 17
e  22 26 19  46e  24 32 16 
 ePreliminary estimate. 
 
1. Export performances 
83. Despite the good performance of exports of services at the group level, the growth of 
individual economies varies significantly.  Among the 99 developing economies for which data are 
available for the years 2006-2008, 43 recorded  export increases above the world average. 
84. In Latin America , export performance varied.  While la rge exporters expanded, in general, 
very rapidly between 2006 and 2008, smaller c ountries in the region recorded growth rates 
considerably lower than the world' s average or even negative.  For example, growth in Southern 
American economies' exports was a bove 21 per cent on average per year, while Caribbean's exports of 
commercial services rose overall only by some 8 per cen t.  This is due to the fact that Caribbean 
countries are often dependent on exports in one service sector, mainly tourism, which is very 
vulnerable to the occurrence of natural disasters such as hurricanes, and changes in consumers' 
consumption habits following an economic crisis.  In  Brazil and Argentina, on the contrary, the main 
drivers of their export growth were other commerc ial services, which have been globally the most 
dynamic service component over recent years.  Braz il's and Argentina's exports of other commercial 
                                                      
23 No information on sales of foreign affiliates is provided due to the lack of data for the period. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 36  
 
  services, mainly business, professional and technical  services, increased by 32 per cent on average per 
year between 2006 and 2008.  Within this service category architectural, engineering and technical 
consultancy services, as well as legal services were Brazil's most exported services sub-sectors, accounting for almost half of exports of other commercial services in 2008.  Within the region, 
Costa Rica's exports of commercial services grew by 19 per cent on average per year in the period 
2006-2008.  The country is an emerging supplier of computer services, which increased by 
29 per cent in the same period.   
Chart 24:  Exports of selected Latin American economies, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage) 
annual change
-10 0 10 20 30 40Latin AmericaMe x i c oBrazilCosta RicaDominican RepublicSaint LuciaBahamasUruguayArgentinaChileParaguay
2007 20082008 share in region's exports
Paraguay 
1%
Bahamas 
2%Argentina 
9% Uruguay 
2%Dominican 
Republic 
4%Costa Rica 
3%Me x i c o 
15%
Chile 8%Other 33%
Brazil 
23%
 
 
85. Exports from developing European countries , expanded by a significant 20 per cent.  This is 
mainly due to the growth of the tourism sector in the region.  Between 2006 and 2008, Turkey's 
exports of commercial services increased by 17 per cent boosted by higher travel receipts, the 
country's largest service export category.  The numbe r of foreign tourists in Turkey (largely from 
Europe) increased by 17 per cent on average per year in  the period 2006-2008.  Si milarly, thanks to its 
emerging tourism sector, Montenegro's exports of commercial services increased by 45 per cent on 
average per year, promoting the country as the fastest growing services exporter among the 
developing group.  Finally, within the region, export s from Serbia, grew by 38 per cent.  The country 
is an emerging supplier of other commercial services (mostly business, professional and technical services).   
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 37 
 
 
  Chart 25:  Developing Europe exports by selected economies  
and commercial serv ice items, 2006-2008  
(Percentage) 
annual change
0 2 04 06 08 0Developing
EuropeTurkeyM ontenegroSerbia
2007 20082008 share in region's exports
Other 
commer-
cial 
services, 
18%Transpor-
tation, 
19%
Travel, 
63%
 
 
86. In Africa , higher travel and transport receipts contributed to a rise in Egypt's exports of 
commercial services (by 25 per cent per annum  on average between 2006 and 2008).  Increasing 
numbers of transiting ships in the Suez Canal an d in net tonnage, as well as the appreciation of 
Special Drawing Rights (SDR – in which tolls are paid) vis-à-vis  the dollar have resulted in growing 
exports of transportation services.  In addition, in the same period, higher inte rnational tourist arrivals, 
mainly from Europe, accounted for 19 per cent rise in  travel exports.  Egypt has recently started to 
develop new tourism areas such as safari, health-re lated, and conference tourism.  Health-related 
tourism is well developed in Tunisia.  The country' exports of this type of services reached 
US$69 million in 2008, increasing by 29 pe r cent on average per year since 2006. 
 
Chart 26:  Exports of selected African economies, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage) 
annual change
-20 0 20 40 60AfricaEgyptTunisiaMoroc c oBotswanaKenyaSouth AfricaEthiopia
2007 20082008 share in region's exports
South 
Africa 
14%Other 32%
Ethiopia 
2%
Botswana 
1%Kenya 3%M orocco 
14%Egypt 
28%
Tunisia 
6%
 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 38  
 
  87. In Morocco, the second largest service exporter in Africa, exports of commercial services 
grew just below the world average between 2006 and 2008 due to a slower growth of travel exports 
(by 10 per cent).  Following very rapid growth in 2006 and 2007, travel exports stagnated in 2008.  
With an average share of more th an 60 per cent in total exports travel continued to be the most 
important service category for the country.  However,  the relative importance of travel has decreased 
due to growing exports of other commercial servi ces which increased by 27 per cent on average over 
the period 2006-2008.  Within this group, Morocco 's main exports sector are other business services, 
especially activities related to business pro cess outsourcing (BPO) such as call centres, and 
communications services.  Recently, in sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya, Botswana, and South Africa have 
begun entering the IT and BPO market.  South Afri ca's exports of computer and information services 
increased by 25 per cent on average per year in th e period 2006-2008, while exports of business 
services grew by 18 per cent.  Exports from South Africa are primarily destined to UK-based clients.
24 
According to available data, the most rapid grow th in African countries was observed in Ethiopia, 
with an average increase by more than 40 per cen t due to the increase in transport exports.   
88. Overall, the Middle Eastern  countries' exports of commercial services grew by 16 per cent in 
the period 2006-2008.  Lebanon's and United Arab Em irates' exports expanded considerably, due in 
particular to high increases in travel receipts (20 per cent for both countries).  According to the World Tourism Organization, in 2008 the number of intern ational tourists' arrivals  in Lebanon increased by 
31 per cent, the country becoming an important  tourism destination in the region.   
89. Exports from Israel, the largest service exporter in the Middle East, increased below the world 
average (11 per cent) due to stagnating exports of other business services.  Over recent years, Israel 
has become an important world exporter of R&D services.  Many international firms have set up 
R&D centres in Israel to bene fit from the country's advanced infrastructure and highly-skilled 
manpower.  In the period 2006-2008, Kuwait's exports  of telecommunications services increased by 
34 per cent on average per year, and the country has become a leading supplier of telecommunications services.   
 
Chart 27:  Exports of selected Middle East economies, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage) 
annual change
0 1 02 03 04 05 0Mi ddl e  E a stLebanonUnited Arab EmiratesIsraelKuwait
2007 20082008 share in region's exports
Kuwait 
11%Other 36%
Israel 24%Lebanon 
19%
United 
Arab 
Emirates 
9%
 
 
90. Developing Asia's  exports of commercial services were very dynamic, increasing by 
19 per cent on average per year in the period 2006-2008.   With a growth of 40 per cent, Nepal was the 
most dynamic country.  This was due to its travel receipts, which increased by 62 per cent on average 
per year.  However, the size of Nepal's exports re mains very modest.  Significant travel revenues, 
resulting from the gaming industry, boosted expor ts of commercial services from Macao, China 
(31 per cent increase).   
                                                      
24 See document S/C/W/304, page 10.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 39 
 
 
  91. Between 2006 and 2008, China's exports continued to grow above the world average (by 
27 per cent per year) supported by a thriving tran sport sector and expand ing exports of other 
commercial services.  In particular, the economy's  exports of sea freight transportation services 
increased by 43 per cent on average per year.  As a r esult, in 2007, China has become the fifth largest 
world exporter of transportation services up from the seventh place in 2006 (counting the European 
Union as one).  Merchanting and other trade-related services as well as business, professional and 
technical services formed the bulk of China's ex ports of other commercial services.  However, 
construction was the fastest growing export sector (94 per cent growth).  Chinese building companies 
are engaged in Asian and African countries working on the construction of electric power plants, oil 
pipelines, housing and other infrastructure projects.   
Chart 28:  Exports of selected Asian economies, 2006-2008  
 
(Percentage) 
annual change
0 1 02 03 04 05 06 0Developing AsiaChinaIndiaKorea, Republic ofSingap oreHong Kong, ChinaNepalM acao, ChinaPhilippinesThailandM alaysia
2007 20082008 share in region's exports
Philippines 
2%
Ma c a o, 
China 3%Thailand 
5%Ma l a ysi a  
4%
Hong 
Kong, 
China 14%
Singap ore 
13%Korea, 
Republic 
of 11%India 16%China 22%Other 10%
 
 
92. India's exports are also estimated to have increased by over 20 per cent on average per year in 
the period 2006-2008, mainly due to its exports of other commercial services, which accounted for 
78 per cent of the total.  In 2007, business, professional and technical services as well as computer services accounted each for an estimated 40 per cent of India's other commercial services exports.  
Over recent years, India has become a leading outsourcing destination.  Indian exports of computer 
services have continued expanding and the provision of information technology enabled services have 
also increased considerably.  Exports of BPO related-activities such as call centres, medical 
transcriptions, etc., have also become an important  source of revenue for other Asian economies such 
as the Philippines.  In 2008, the country's expor ts of other business services increased by over 
40 per cent.  Within the region, Malaysia is a nother emerging outsourcing location.  Between 2006 
and 2008, its exports of miscellaneous business,  professional and technical services grew by 
18 per cent on average per year.  Thailand's travel  exports, which expanded by 15 per cent on average 
per year between 2006 and 2008, continued to represent the most important component of the 
country's exports of commercial services (53 per cent in 2008). 
93. By contrast, Singapore's and Hong Kong, China's exports of commercial services both grew 
below the world average.  For Hong Kong, China th e main reason was declinin g exports of financial WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 40  
 
  services in 2008, while for Singapore it was a ne gative performance of export of other business 
services in the same year. 
2. Developing economies' impo rts of commercial services 
94. Between 2006 and 2008, developi ng economies' imports of commercial services increased by 
19 per cent.  Among the 99 economies for which data ar e available, 54 grew at a faster pace than the 
world average. 
95. The most rapid import growth was observed in developing Europe.  The region's imports of 
commercial services increased by 25 per cent on aver age per year in the period 2006-2008.  Serbia's 
imports were the most dynamic (growing by 41 per cent), driven upwards by a high rise in travel 
expenditure and by payments fo r transportation services (especially pipeline transport).  In 
Montenegro, commercial services imports grew by 36 per cent mainly due to increased imports of 
transportation services (especially freight transport by road) and of architectural, engineering and 
technical services, research and development servi ces, as well as legal, accounting and consulting 
services.  Finally, in the period 2006-2008, Albania's imports of commercial services increased by 23 per cent on average per year due to expanded travel expenditure by Albanians abroad. 
96. In the period 2006-2008, imports by the Middle East and Africa were also very dynamic 
with an average rise per year respectively of 24 per cent and 23 per cent.  In some Middle Eastern economies, imports of other business services increased rapidly.  In Lebanon, they grew by 41 per cent on average per year, while in Israel, they  increased by 17 per cent.  In Africa, Egypt's and 
Morocco's imports of commercial services rose resp ectively by 26 per cent and by 24 per cent on 
average per year.  In both economies significant in creases were recorded in the three main services 
categories.  Ethiopia's imports rose by 43 per cent due to higher payments for transportation services. 
97. Compared to other developing regions, de veloping Asian and Latin American economies 
were the least dynamic, as their imports increa sed annually by 17 per cent on average between 2006 
and 2008.  Bangladesh recorded a growth among the fastest in developing Asia  (32 per cent).  Its 
imports of transportation services, mainly payments  for sea freight transport, increased by 42 per cent 
on average per year between 2006 and 2008.  In China, imports of commercial services grew by 
25 per cent due in particular to higher payments to  non-residents for the supply of other commercial 
services.  In particular, the economy's imports of other business services grew by 37 per cent on average per year (mostly due to trade-related servi ces as well as business, management consulting and 
public relations services).  India's imports of comme rcial services increased by 20 per cent on average 
in the period, largely due to a 29 per cent rise in payments for transportation services, which 
accounted for half of the country's imports of tota l commercial services in 2008.  Finally, Nepal's and 
Viet Nam's imports of commercial services expanded by some 30 per cent.   
98. In Latin America the most rapid growth was observed in Peru (28 per cent), due both to 
increased payments for transportation services as well as for other commercial services.  Brazil's and Argentina's imports were very d ynamic with an average annual increase of 28 per cent and 23 per cent 
respectively.  In Brazil, travel expenditure gr ew by 38 per cent reflecting the higher number of 
Brazilians travelling to foreign countries.  Argentin a recorded a 46 per cent average rise per year in 
payments for sea freight transport.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 41 
 
 
  IV. DEVELOPING ECONOMIES' TRADE DURING THE CRISIS: DEVELOPMENTS 
IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2009 
A. MERCHANDISE TRADE  
1. Commodity prices 
99. In response to the financial crisis and global fa ll in demand, prices of all primary commodities 
plunged, including food.  By February 2009, petrol eum prices fell by 68 per cent from their peak of 
July 2008, then regained on average 13 per cent each month until June.  In the second quarter of 2009 
on average, they were still 51 per cent below their le vel of a year earlier.  Prices of minerals and 
non-ferrous metals decreased by half between July  2008 and February 2009, while those of food and 
beverages dropped by 29 per cent.  In the second qu arter of 2009, they were respectively 42 per cent 
and 19 per cent less than the same period of the previous year.   
Chart 29:  Export prices of primary commodities, 2007Q1-2009Q1  
(Indices, year 2005=100) 
80100120140160180200220
07Q1 07Q2 07Q3 07Q4 08Q1 08Q2 08Q3 08Q4 09Q1 09Q2Food, beverages, and agricultural raw materials
Minerals and non-ferrous metals  (excluding crude petroleum)
Natural Gas
Crude petroleum
 
 
2. Merchandise exports 
100. Following the financial and economic crisis, the developing economies experienced a sharp 
fall in their export revenues and strong contraction in their imports.  During the first half of 2009, the 
exports of the developing economies dropped by an estimated 32 per cent on a year-on-year basis – 
virtually by the same degree as those of the deve loped countries.  Mirroring the movement of primary 
commodity prices, Africa and the Middle East were the hardest hit as their exports dropped by nearly 
half during this period.  Exports of developing Asia shrank by a quarter and those of Latin America by 
31 per cent. 
101. During the first half of 2009, in value terms,  developing economies' exports of fuels and 
mining products contracted by an estimated 50 per cen t, in contrast to the 55 per cent rise during the 
corresponding period of 2008.  The decline in the exports of food, at 13 per cent, was much less 
pronounced than other commodities.  All in all, agricu ltural product exports decreased by 17 per cent.   WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 42  
 
  Chart 30:  Merchandise exports of developing economies  
(Year-on-year percentage change) 
-55 -50 -45 -40 -35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5WorldDeveloping econom iesDeveloping AsiaLatin AmericaMiddle East*Africa*
08Q4 09Q1 09Q2
 
 * Due to scarcity of data, estimates for Africa and the Middle East are partial. Intra-regional trade flows are 
particularly under-represented. 
 
102. Developing economies' exports of manufactured pr oducts declined by 25 per cent in the first 
half of 2009 as compared to the same period of the pr evious year.  This drop is relatively less than the 
corresponding 31 per cent fall in the exports of the developed countries.  China's exports of 
manufactures declined by 21 per cent, while those of the NICs (6) dropped by 26 per cent.  Excluding 
China and the NICs (6) the developing economies'  exports of manufactures fell by 27 per cent.   
 
Chart 31:  Merchandise exports of developing economies by product category  
 
(Year-on-year percentage change) 
-60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0ManufacturesFuels and mining productsAgricultureTotal ex ports 
08Q4 09Q1 09Q2
 
 
103. Office and telecommunication equipment which accounted for 25 per cent of the developing 
economies manufactures exports in 2008, declined by 24 per cent.  Of the manufacturing sector, the 
hardest hit is iron and steel which dropped by half in the first six months of the year.  In contrast, the 
fall in clothing exports (12 per cent decrease) is rela tively moderate and comparable to the fall in food 
exports.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 43 
 
 
  3. Merchandise imports 
104. Compared to the same period of 2008, mercha ndise imports of the developing economies 
contracted by an estimated 28 per cent during th e first half of 2009 – relatively lower than the 
corresponding 33 per cent and 39 per cent declines for the developed and CIS regions, respectively.  
Imports of developing Asia and Latin America shra nk by the same rate (by about 30 per cent), while 
those of Africa and the Middle East dropped by 20 per cent. 
 
Chart 32:  Merchandise imports of developing economies  
 
(Year-on-year percentage change) 
-35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15WorldDeveloping economiesDeveloping AsiaLatin AmericaAfrica and the Middle East*
08Q4 09Q1 09Q2
 *Scarcity of data did not permit to estimate the imports of Africa and the Middle East separately. 
 
105. Fuels and mining imports of the developing economi es contracted by nearly 45 per cent in the 
first half of the year – relatively lower than their developed counterparts (dropping by 50 per cent).  China, the major developing economy importer of fu els and mining products, slashed its imports by 
37 per cent.  Particularly, its imports from Africa  plummeted by 53 per cent.  Developing economies' 
imports of agricultural products also contracted by 20 per cent.  Their imports of food shrank by 
15 per cent.  The developing economie s' imports of manufactured goods declined by nearly a quarter 
during the same period – though relatively lower than the fall in the imports of the developed countries (30 per cent).  The NICs (6) recorded the strongest decline in their imports of manufactures 
(32 per cent) – much sharper than the 20 per cent and 22 per cent drops registered for China and the 
rest of the developing economies, respectively. 
Chart 33:  Merchandise imports of developing economies by product category  
(Year-on-year percentage change) 
-45 -40 -35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0ManufacturesFuels and mining productsAgricultureTotal imports 
08Q4 09Q1 09Q2
 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 44  
 
  B. 
THE IMPACT OF THE CRISIS ON TRADE IN CO MMERCIAL SERVICES OF DEVELOPING ECONOMIES  
106. At present, the availability of quarterly da ta on trade in commercial services varies 
considerably among developing regions.  A large number of economies in developing Asia publish 
these statistics, whereas they are produced only by fe w African countries.  Thus, it is not possible to 
present a reliable estimate of the impact of the cris is on the developing group as a whole but rather an 
analysis of recent trends in selected reporters and, where possible, by region.   
107. In 2008, exports of commercial services by  developing Asian economies accounted for 
64 per cent of total commercial services exports by the developing group.  In the first half of 2008, 
exports of commercial services by developing Asia increased by 20 per cent co mpared to the same 
period of 2007, while in the second half of 2008 exports growth remained positive but contracted to 
7 per cent.  Preliminary figures for the first six months of 2009 show that developing Asian 
economies' overall service exports  dropped by 17 per cent year-on-year reflecting the adverse 
economic conditions. 
Chart 34:  Developing Asia – Exports of commercial services  
 
(Year-on-year percentage change) 
-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50Developing AsiaChinaHong Kong, ChinaIndiaKorea, Rep. ofMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeTaipei, ChineseThailand
1st half 2008 2nd half 2008 1st half 2009
 
 
108. The fall in global demand following the financial cr isis in the last quarter of 2008 has deeply 
affected the transport sector.  Available statistics show  that the impact of the crisis has been severe in 
economies in which transportation services, in particular freight transport, account for a significant portion of commercial services exports.  For exampl e, the Republic of Korea, in 2008 the top 
transportation services exporter among developing economies, recorded a drop in its exports by over 
38 per cent in the period January-August 2009 on a year-on-year basis.  According to China's preliminary figures, exports of transportation services  dropped by 45 per cent year-on-year in the first 
half of 2009.  Hong Kong, China's exports decreas ed by 17 per cent reflecting the decline in the 
number of containers handled in its port.  In the same period, in Africa, Egypt's exports of 
transportation services declined by 17 per cent due to  the reduction in the number of transiting ships 
and net tonnage resulting from the global crisis, as well as the depreciation of the SDR.  In Latin America, Chile, the region's largest supplie r of transportation services, reported a 19 per cent 
fall.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 45 
 
 
  109. Tourism is another service sector which is severely hit by the crisis.  Decreasing disposable 
income especially in developed countries, has transl ated into a reduction of demand for international 
travel.  Many developing economies, especially small economies, where travel exports represent 
important revenues, have been particularly affected .  In the Caribbean, for example, Jamaica reports a 
29 per cent drop in its travel receipts in the first ha lf of 2009 year-on-year.  In the first quarter of 
2009, the Dominican Republic recorded a decline by  8 per cent in its travel revenue due to the 
decrease in incoming foreign tourists from Europe and North America.  In the first half of 2009, 
Macao, China's travel receipts contracted by 14 per cent year-on-year due to the decline in gaming 
activities.  In the same region, Thailand's travel revenues dropped by 29 per cent reflecting the decline 
in international tourist arrivals.  Egypt was seem ingly less affected as its travel revenues decreased by 
9 per cent.  In Turkey, which is the second largest  travel exporter among developing economies, travel 
exports decreased by 4 per cent in the period January-August 2009.   
Chart 35:  Commercial service exports of selected developing economies  
 
(Year-on-year percentage change) 
-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50JordanIsraelSouth AfricaEgyptTurkeyMex icoChileBrazilArgentina
1st half 2008 2nd half 2008 1st half 2009
 
 
110. World exports of financial servi ces have dropped considerably as a result of the turmoil in the 
financial sector.  According to our estimates, in the first quarter of 2009, they have plummeted by 
26 per cent on a year-on-year basis.  In the first half of 2009, financial services exports fell 
respectively by 21 per cent in Hong Kong, China an d by 31 per cent in Singapore year-on-year.  The 
Republic of Korea reported a decline of 46 per cent in  the first eight months of 2009 compared to the 
same period of 2008.  However, apart from a few Asian economies, financial services account for a 
small share of developing economies' exports of commercial services (4 per cent in 2007).   
111. Although more resilient than other service sectors at the beginning of the crisis, by mid-2009, 
developing economies' exports of other business services also dropped abruptly.  In the first half of 
2009, China's and India's exports of other business se rvices declined respectively by 24 per cent and 
20 per cent year-on-year.  Chinese Taipei's exports contracted by 27 per cent.  In the Republic of 
Korea, in the period January-August, exports of other business services fell by 15 per cent 
year-on-year mainly due to a 20 per cent drop in exports of business, professional and technical WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 46  
 
  services.  By contrast, in the same period, the Phili ppines' exports of other business services continued 
to increase (27 per cent).   
112. Brazil, which was the most dynamic service expor ter in Latin America over recent years, saw 
its exports of other business services decrease by 2 per cent in the first six months of 2009 as a result 
of falling exports of miscellaneous business, professional and technical services.  Similarly, Argentina 
saw its exports of other business services decrease by 3 per cent. 
113. Developing economies' imports of commercial services also declined in the first half of 2009.  
China's imports of total commercial services decreased by 5 per cent year-on-year, while in Hong Kong, China and Singapore the decline was 13 pe r cent and 14 per cent, respectively.  Imports 
of the Republic of Korea dropped 27 per cent y ear-on-year during January-August 2009.  Brazil's 
imports fell by 7 per cent in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period of 2008.  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 47 
 
 
  ANNEX 
THE TRADING ENVIRONMENT  
A. DECREASE IN TARIFFS SINCE THE CONCLUSION OF THE URUGUAY ROUND  
1. Since the conclusion of the Uruguay Round, a decreasing trend in tariffs and increasing role 
of developing economies are among the notable f eatures of international trade.  The simple 
measurement of average tariff (averages of MF N tariff averages of individual countries and 
economies) indicates that developed countries reduced their tariffs by 46 per cent (from 5.7 per cent to 
3.1 per cent), while developing economies lowered them from 11.8 per cent to 8.7 per cent.  Within the latter group, the LDCs decreased their tariff s by 1.7 percentage point, from 14.2 per cent to 
12.5 per cent.   
Table 1:  Import values and average tariffs by economic groupings, 1996-2008  
 
(billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Annual  Share in world trade  Average tariffa 
 1996 2008  Growth  1996 2008  96/97 07/08 
World 5416 16127  10  100 100    
Developed 
economies 3783 10123  
9  
70 63  
5.7 3.1 
Developing 
economies 1525 5506  
11  
28 34  
11.8 8.7 
LDCs 37 158  13  1 1  14.2 12.5 
 a Non ad valorem  duties were excluded.  The average tariff fo r economic groupings was compiled as simple 
averages of countries' simple MFN tariff averages.  Average of available data within each period. 
 
B. TARIFFS FACED BY DEVELOPING ECONOMIES1 
Table 2:  Average custom duty imposed in developed country markets for developing and least-developed 
economies products (excluding oil and arms)  
 
 MFN tariff  Preferential 
 1996 2007  1996 2007 
Developing economies (including LDCs) 9.9 7.9  7.8 5.7 
LDCs 8.0 6.7  4.5 2.9 
 Source:  WTO - UNCTAD - ITC.   
 
2. The last decade witnessed a reduction in the av erage applied tariff for developing economies 
products entering the markets of the developed countries.  The average applied MFN duty dropped 
from 9.9 per cent to 7.9 per cent between 1996 and 2007.   Within preferential treatments the decline is 
even stronger, from 7.8 per cent to 5.7 per cent.  The reduction is more pronounced for preferential 
treatments (27 per cent) than for MFN (20 per cent). 
                                                      
1 Statistics described in this Section are sourced from WTO - UNCTAD - ITC, compiled for the 
monitoring of the United Nations Millennium Developm ent Goals (MDG).  "Developing economies" herein 
mentioned relate to the qualification used for the purpose of the MDG.  The composition of MDG-developing 
economies differs from the composition used elsewhere in the report and described in Appendix 9.  Oil as well 
as arms are excluded. Tariff averages used here are cal culated with a fixed weight in time, with base period 
average 1999-2001;  th erefore, the indicator expresses only tariff reductions, disentangling them from the 
changes in trade composition among high-taxed/low-taxed products.  Preferential tariffs include regional trade 
agreements and non-reciprocal treatme nts, and are calculated under the assu mption that all products for which a 
preference exists have made use of it.  If several options are found, the best (lowest) is selected.  For 
Non-a d valorem  tariffs, ad valorem  equivalents have been calculated. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 48  
 
   
3. LDCs, meanwhile, have made good use of prefer ential treatments given to them, as can be 
seen from the fact that their exports grew faster  in highly protected sectors (such as agricultural 
products, and the textiles and clothing sector) than  in duty-free sectors and sectors with relatively 
lower protection. 
Table 3:  Developed country imports from developing and  
least-developed economies 1996-2007  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Agriculture, Textiles, 
Clothing  Other (excluding oil and 
arms) 
 2007 
value Annual % 
change 96-07  2007 
value Annual % 
change 96-07 
Developing economies (including LDCs)  389 7  1912 13 
LDCs 19 10  11 4 
 Source:   WTO - UNCTAD - ITC.   
 
4. In highly protected sectors, LDCs enjoy mean ingful preference margins, notwithstanding the 
downward trend in tariffs in general.  This result has been made possible thanks to the more rapid 
advance of duty-free quota-free treatment for LDCs than preferential treatments for other developing 
economies.   
Table 4:  Preference margins of developing economies and LDCs, 2007  
 
(percentage) 
  Total (excl. oil 
& arms) Agriculture, Textiles 
& clothing Other (excl. 
oil & arms) 
Average MFN duty 7.9 9.9 1.9 
Preferential tariff 5.7 7.2 1.0 Developing economies 
Preference margin 2.2 2.7 0.9 
Average MFN duty 6.7 8.0 2.7 
Preferential tariff 2.9 3.8 0.3 LDCs 
Preference margin 3.8 4.2 2.4 
 Source:   WTO - UNCTAD - ITC.   
 
5. The composition of LDC exports shifted towa rds products with higher preference margins 
and therefore, with higher MFN tariffs.  Thus, sta tistics show that the share of developed countries' 
duty-free imports from LDCs increased from 78 per cent in 1996 to only 80 per cent in 2007.  Meanwhile, for developing economies as a whole this indicator reached 80 per cent in 2007, going up 
from 54 per cent in 1996, thanks mainly to the st ronger growth of products with zero or low duties. 
6. In 2007, on the sectors with high tariffs (i.e ., agriculture, textiles and clothing), LDCs had 
4.2 percentage points of advantage over MFN tariff.  The developing economies had overall a 
preference margin of 2.2 points, and 2.7 points in the protected sectors.  
C. 
THE DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENT FOR TRADING GOODS ACROSS BORDERS  
7. Trade facilitation is taking an increasing importa nce in the international agenda on trade and 
development.  The trading environment which e xporters face within their own country influences 
their competitiveness at least as much as access conditions in their export markets.  Transport and 
communication infrastructure, the banking system, as well as domestic regula tions and trade-related 
bureaucracy are determinant factors of enterprises' co sts and ability to respond to external demand in a 
timely fashion.    WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 49 
 
 
  8. The World Bank's Doing Business 2009 report illustrates that "high trade costs constrain 
participation in global trade for many countries, pa rticularly in Africa".  Among other examples, it 
quotes a recent study estimating the loss from export delays at around 1 per cent of trade for each extra day, and nearly 3 per cent of the volume  of trade for perishable agricultural products.
2 
Table 5:  Costs of exporting merchandise, 2008 or most recent survey perioda 
 
Grouping or Regionb Documents for 
export (number)c Time for export  
(days)  Cost to export  
(US$ per container)d 
Developing economies, of which  7.2 26.5 1371 
Latin America 8.9 29.1 1368 
Developing Europe 6.9 16.9 1212 
Africa 7.7 32.9 1782 Middle East 6.7 25.8 1089 
Developing Asia 7.1 25.2 1004     
Memorandum items    
World 6.8 25.1 1374 
Developed economies 4.6 11.5 1074 
Commonwealth of Independent 
States (CIS) 8.5 47.6 2308 
LDCs 7.8 36.7 1755 
aProcedural requirements for exporting a standardized car go of goods by ocean transport.  Procedures range from 
packing the goods at the factory to their departure from the por t of exit.  The time and cost for ocean transport itself are no t 
included.   
 bComputed according to WTO definitions as simple aver ages across economies composing the respective groups.   
 cDocuments include bank documents, customs declaration and clearance documents, por t filing documents, import 
licenses and other official documents.   
 dCost is recorded as the fees levied on a 20-foot container, excluding tariffs or trade taxes.   
 Source:   WTO calculations based on Worl d Bank Doing Business database 
 
9. Through a set of simple indicators the Doing Business project showed over the past four years 
that many economies have introduced practices that reduce the time and cost associated with trade.  
Serbia, Albania, Croatia and the FYR Macedonia largely reduced delays for exporting by easing 
administrative requirements or improving technological tools available to fulfil them rapidly (such as 
electronic data interchange systems).  On aver age, developing European countries managed to 
speed-up the export process by more than 12 days si nce 2005.  Developing Europe is now by far the 
region among developing economies where export proce dures are fastest, with an average delay lower 
than 17 days.   
10. In Latin America, developing Asia and the Middl e East export delays have been reduced by 
more than three days and it takes on average be tween 25 and 30 days to export.  These regional 
averages obviously hide wide discrepancies among i ndividual economies.  The best performers in 
these regions are Singapore, Thailand, Panama, Israel  and Hong Kong, China,  which the World Bank 
ranked among the ten economies where trading acro ss borders is easiest.  Although not in this 
"top 10", Cambodia and India have reduced their time  to export by about 20 days since 2005.  Latin 
America, Asia and the Middle East, however, also  comprise economies where trading across border is 
particularly difficult and time-consuming.  Export delays are indeed longer than 40 days in most 
landlocked Asian economies whose exporters need to  comply with different requirements at each 
border (namely Mongolia, Nepal, Lao People's De mocratic Republic, and Afghanistan) as well as in 
Haiti, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Iraq. 
                                                      
2 Djankov, Freund and Pham (forthcoming). Quoted from the World Bank's Doing business 2009 
report. WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 50  
 
  11. The latest Doing Business issue reports that Africa had the most reforms in making trade 
easier in 2007-2008.  Although less impressive than  for developing European countries, Africa's 
average export delay was shortened by more than fi ve days since 2005, a much larger reduction than 
the developing economies' average.  However, with  an average delay of about 33 days, it still takes 
significantly longer to export from Africa than other developing regions.  Among the last 50 (of 181) 
economies ranked in the Doing Business 2009 report, 30 are African.  Half of them are landlocked. 
Chart 1:  Reduction in the time to export by economic groupings and regions, 2005-2008  
 
(days) 
-4.6-3.6
-12.5-5.3-3.5-3.3
-4.0-1.3
-5.8-4.6Developing
economiesLatin
AmericaDeveloping
Europe AfricaMi ddl e
EastDeveloping
Asia WorldDeveloped
economies CIS LDCs
 
 Source:   WTO calculations based on World Bank Doing Business  database (simple av erages across economies 
composing the respective groups) 
 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 51 
 
 
  APPENDIX 
Appendix  Table 1:  Merchandise exports of de veloping economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
             
Worlda 15716.73  100.000 100.000  - -  12 15 16 15              
Developing 
economiesa 5991.85  30.572 38.124  100.000 100.000  15 18 17 19              
Latin America and 
the Caribbean 891.39  5.801 5.672  18.974 14.877  12 14 12 16 
Developing Europe 168.27  0. 583 1.071  1.906 2.808  21 24 26 22 
Africa 557.81  2.368 3.549  7.744 9.310  18 23 18 28 
Middle East 1021.22  4.270 6. 498  13.967 17.044  18 24 16 33 
Developing Asiaa 3353.16  17.551 21.335  57.408 55.962  15 16 18 15                           
Afghanistan 0.61  0.002 0. 004  0.007 0.010  20 22 22 23 
Albania 1.35  0.004 0.009  0.013 0.023  23 30 35 26 
Algeria 79.30  0.351 0.505  1.148 1.323  17 20 10 32 
American Samoa 0.57  0.006 0.004  0.018 0.010  6 14 3 27 
Angola 67.10  0.126 0.427  0.413 1.120  31 45 39 51 
Antigua and Barbuda 0.08  0. 001 0.001  0.003 0.001  6 4 3 5 
Argentina 70.02  0.420 0.446  1.373 1.169  13 23 20 26 
Aruba 0.10  0.003 0.001  0.009 0.002  -7 -4 -10 3 
Bahamas 0.99  0.009 0.006  0.030 0.017  7 19 16 23 
Bahrain 18.15  0.099 0.115  0.323 0.303  14 22 12 33 
Bangladesh 15.36  0.102 0.098  0.333 0.256  12 14 6 23 
Barbados 0.39  0.004 0.003  0.014 0.007  5 -5 8 -17 
Belize 0.31  0.003 0.002  0.011 0.005  4 6 -3 16 Benin 1.05  0.006 0.007  0.020 0.018  13 20 19 20 
Bhutan 0.52  0.002 0.003  0.005 0.009  22 12 63 -23 
Bolivarian Rep. of 
Venezuela 93.54  0.534 0.595  1.747 1.561  14 20 6 35 
Bolivia 6.45  0.020 0.041  0.064 0.108  23 29 15 45 Bosnia and 
Herzegovina 5.06  0.017 0. 032  0.056 0.085  21 23 25 22 
Botswana 4.88  0.043 0.031  0.139 0.081  8 4 14 -6 
Brazil 197.94  0.878 1.259  2.870 3.304  17 20 17 23 
Brunei Darussalam 11.10  0.062 0.071  0.203 0.185  14 21 0 45 
Burkina Faso 0.55  0.003 0.003  0.011 0.009  13 -3 6 -12 
Burundi 0.06  0.001 0.000  0.003 0.001  2 -1 -9 8 
Cambodia 4.30  0.022 0.027  0.072 0.072  15 11 16 5 
Cameroon 4.35  0.029 0.028  0.096 0.073  11 10 1 21 
Cape Verde 0.03  0.000 0. 000  0.001 0.001  14 24 -7 66 
Central African 
Republic 0.20  0.003 0.001  0.008 0.003  2 11 13 10 
Chad 4.65  0.003 0.030  0.010 0.078  50 17 7 27 
Chile 66.46  0.306 0.423  1.001 1.109  17 6 15 -2 
China 1428.33  3.970 9.088  12.986 23.838  24 21 26 17 
Colombia 37.63  0.208 0.239  0.679 0.628  14 24 23 25 
Comoros 0.01  0.000 0.000  0.001 0.000  -1 14 31 0 
Congo 9.05  0.040 0.058  0.130 0.151  18 22 -5 58 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 52  
 
  Appendix
 Table 1:  Merchandise exports of de veloping economies a nd regions, 2000-2008 
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Congo, Dem. Rep. of 3.95  0.013 0.025  0.043 0.066  22 30 14 49 
Cook Islands 0.00  0.000 0.000  0.000 0.000  -9 8 49 -21 
Costa Rica 9.50  0.093 0.060  0.306 0.159  6 8 14 2 
Côte d'Ivoire 10.10  0.062 0.064  0.203 0.169  13 9 0 19 
Croatia 14.11  0.071 0.090  0.231 0.236  16 17 19 14 
Cuba 3.50  0.027 0.022  0.087 0.058  10 5 27 -12 
Djibouti 0.07  0.001 0.000  0.002 0.001  10 12 5 18 
Dominica 0.04  0.001 0.000  0.003 0.001  -3 -2 -11 9 
Dominican Republic 6.95  0. 091 0.044  0.299 0.116  2 3 8 -3 
Ecuador 18.51  0.078 0.118  0.257 0.309  18 21 13 29 
Egypt 23.99  0.084 0.153  0.275 0.400  21 20 15 25 
El Salvador 4.55  0.047 0.029  0.153 0.076  6 11 8 14 
Equatorial Guinea 16.30  0.017 0.104  0.057 0.272  40 41 24 60 
Eritrea 0.02  0.001 0.000  0.002 0.000  -9 27 43 13 
Ethiopia 1.60  0.008 0.010  0.025 0.027  16 24 24 25 
Fiji 0.92  0.009 0.006  0.030 0.015  6 17 11 22 
French Polynesia 0.21  0.004 0.001  0.012 0.003  -1 -6 -16 5 
FYR Macedonia 3.98  0.021 0. 025  0.069 0.066  15 29 40 19 
Gabon 8.70  0.041 0.055  0.135 0.145  16 26 21 32 
Gambia 0.01  0.000 0.000  0.001 0.000  -1 10 9 11 
Ghana 5.28  0.027 0.034  0.087 0.088  15 19 13 26 Grenada 0.03  0.001 0.000  0.003 0.001  -5 10 32 -9 
Guatemala 7.74  0.0429* 0.049  0.141* 0.129  ... 13 15 12 
Guinea 1.36  0.011 0.009  0.035 0.023  9 13 7 19 
Guinea-Bissau 0.10  0.001 0.001  0.003 0.002  6 15 15 15 
Guyana 0.80  0.008 0.005  0.026 0.013  6 17 19 14 
Haiti 0.49  0.005 0.003  0.017 0.008  6 -2 3 -6 
Honduras 6.05  0.053 0.038  0.174 0.101  8 7 6 8 
Hong Kong, China 370.24  - -  - -  8 7 8 6 
  domestic exports 16.96  0.375 0.108  1.226 0.283  -4 -14 -20 -6 
India 177.50  0.675 1.129  2.208 2.962  20 21 22 21 
Indonesia 139.28  1.042 0.886  3.408 2.324  10 16 14 18 
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 113.40  0.458 0.722  1.498 1.893  19 21 15 28 
Iraq 59.70  0.328 0.380  1.074 0.996  14 40 30 51 
Israel 60.83  0.500 0.387  1.636 1.015  9 14 16 12 
Jamaica 2.70  0.021 0.017  0.068 0.045  10 17 9 25 
Jordan 7.79  0.030 0.050  0.099 0.130  19 22 10 36 
Kenya 4.97  0.028 0.032  0.090 0.083  14 19 17 22 
Kiribati 0.02  0.000 0.000  0.000 0.000  20 54 55 53 
Korea, Dem. People's 
Rep. of 1.95  0.011 0.012  0.037 0.033  14 15 15 16 
Korea, Republic of 422.01  2.744 2.685  8.977 7.043  12 14 14 14 Kuwait 87.09  0.310 0.554  1.013 1.453  21 25 12 39 
Lao People's Dem. Rep. 1.10  0.005 0.007  0.017 0.018  16 11 5 19 
Lebanon 4.45  0.0114* 0.028  0.037* 0.074  22 26 27 25 
Lesotho 0.90  0.004 0.006  0.011 0.015  19 14 16 12 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 53 
 
 
  Appendix  Table 1:  Merchandise exports of de veloping economies a nd regions, 2000-2008 
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Liberia 0.24  0.005* 0.002  0.017* 0.004  ... 24 27 21 
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 63.05  0.213 0.401  0.697 1.052  21 27 20 34 
Macao, China 2.00  0.040 0.013  0.132 0.033  -3 -12 -1 -21 
Madagascar 1.34  0.013 0. 009  0.043 0.022  6 17 26 8 
Malawi 0.77  0.006 0.005  0.020 0.013  9 19 31 8 
Malaysia 199.52  1.565 1.269  5.119 3.330  9 11 10 13 
Maldives 0.33  0.002 0.002  0.006 0.006  15 21 1 45 
Mali 1.65  0.009 0.010  0.028 0.028  15 3 -2 8 
Marshall Islands 0.02  0.000 0. 000  0.000 0.000  10 -4 2 -9 
Mauritania 1.75  0.006 0.011  0.018 0.029  22 13 5 22 
Mauritius 2.40  0.025 0.015  0.081 0.040  6 2 -4 7 
Mexico 291.73  2.650 1.856  8.669 4.869  7 8 9 7 
Micronesia 0.02  0.000 0.000  0.001 0.000  -3 0 0 0 
Mongolia 2.54  0.009 0.016  0.028 0.042  21 28 22 34 
Montenegro 0.78  - 0.005  - 0.013  - -2 11 -13 
Montserrat 0.00  0.000 0. 000  0.000 0.000  17 75 106 48 
Morocco 20.14  0.118 0.128  0.387 0.336  13 26 20 31 
Mozambique 2.65  0.006 0.017  0.019 0.044  28 6 1 10 
Myanmar 6.94  0.026 0.044  0.086 0.116  20 23 38 9 
Namibia 2.80  0.021 0.018  0.069 0.047  10 3 10 -4 
Nepal 1.05  0.013 0.007  0.042 0.018  3 12 6 18 Netherlands Antilles 1.14  0.032* 0.007  0.105* 0.019  ... 28 -3 69 
New Caledonia 1.36  0.010 0. 009  0.031 0.023  11 0 56 -35 
Nicaragua 1.49  0.010 0.009  0.034 0.025  11 19 17 22 
Niger 0.88  0.005 0.006  0.015 0.015  15 30 36 24 
Nigeria 80.75  0.334 0.514  1.093 1.348  18 17 12 23 
Niue 0.00  0.000 0.000  0.000 0.000  -23 -87 145 -99 
Oman 37.72  0.180 0.240  0.590 0.630  16 32 14 53 
Pakistan 20.32  0.144 0. 129  0.470 0.339  11 10 5 14 
Palau 0.01  0.000 0.000  0.001 0.000  -6 -28 -19 -36 
Panama 1.18  0.014 0.008  0.045 0.020  4 4 6 1 
Papua New Guinea 5.72  0.033 0.036  0.109 0.095  13 17 12 22 
Paraguay 4.43  0.014 0.028  0.045 0.074  23 53 46 59 
Peru 31.53  0.112 0.201  0.366 0.526  21 15 17 13 
Philippines 49.03  0.634 0.312  2.073 0.818  3 2 6 -3 
Qatar 63.83  0.185 0.406  0.604 1.065  24 37 23 52 
Rwanda 0.25  0.001 0.002  0.003 0.004  22 30 20 41 
Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.04  0.001 0.000  0.002 0.001  2 -2 -2 -3 
Saint Lucia 0.16  0.001 0.001  0.002 0.003  18 32 15 52 
Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines 0.05  0.001 0.000  0.002 0.001  1 17 25 9 
Samoa 0.01  0.000 0.000  0.001 0.000  -3 3 45 -27 Sao Tome and Principe 0.01  0.000 0.000  0.000 0.000  17 18 -12 56 
Saudi Arabia 313.44  1.236 1.994  4.043 5.231  19 22 11 33 
Senegal 2.35  0.015 0.015  0.048 0.039  12 21 5 41 
Serbia 10.97  - 0.070  - 0.183  - 31 37 24 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 54  
 
  Appendix
 Table 1:  Merchandise exports of de veloping economies a nd regions, 2000-2008 
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Serbia and Montenegro -  0.027 -  0.090 -  - - - - 
Seychelles 0.39  0.003 0.002  0.010 0.007  9 1 -5 8 
Sierra Leone 0.22  0.000 0. 001  0.001 0.004  42 -2 6 -10 
Singapore 338.18  2.195* 2.152  7.181* 5.644  ... 12 10 13 
Solomon Islands 0.19  0.001 0.001  0.004 0.003  13 25 38 13 
Somalia ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... ... ... 
South Africa 80.78  0.478 0.514  1.562 1.348  13 18 20 16 
Sri Lanka 8.45  0.087 0.054  0.283 0.141  6 11 12 9 
Sudan 12.05  0.029 0.077  0.094 0.201  27 46 57 36 
Suriname 1.74  0.006 0. 011  0.021 0.029  20 18 8 28 
Swaziland 1.79  0.014 0.011  0.047 0.030  9 0 5 -5 
Syrian Arab Republic 14.30  0.074* 0.091  0.241* 0.239  ... 14 6 24 
Taipei, Chinese 255.63  2.411 1.626  7.887 4.266  7 7 10 4 
Tanzania 3.04  0.012* 0.019  0.038* 0.051  ... 26 16 36 
Thailand 177.84  1.100 1.132  3.598 2.968  13 17 17 17 
Togo 0.90  0.006 0.006  0.019 0.015  12 18 8 29 
Tonga 0.01  0.000 0.000  0.000 0.000  1 0 -11 12 
Trinidad and Tobago 16.93  0.068 0.108  0.223 0.283  19 9 -5 26 
Tunisia 19.32  0.093 0.123  0.305 0.322  16 29 30 27 
Turkey 132.00  0.442 0.840  1.447 2.203  22 24 25 23 
Tuvalu 0.00  0.000 0.000  0.000 0.000  40 71 80 63 Uganda 2.18  0.007 0.014  0.024 0.036  21 35 42 29 
United Arab Emirates 231.55  0.794 1.473  2.597 3.864  21 26 24 28 
Uruguay 5.95  0.037 0.038  0.120 0.099  13 22 13 32 
Vanuatu 0.04  0.000 0.000  0.001 0.001  6 7 -19 41 
Viet Nam 62.91  0.231 0. 400  0.755 1.050  20 26 22 30 
Yemen 8.98  0.065 0.057  0.213 0.150  10 11 -4 27 
Zambia 5.09  0.014* 0.032  0.046* 0.085  ... ... 22 ... 
Zimbabwe 2.15  0.031 0.014  0.100 0.036  1 4 15 -7 
             
Memorandum items:             
Developed economies 9022.12  67.106 57.405  - -  10 13 15 11 
Commonwealth of  
Independent States 
(CIS) 702.76  2.321 4.471  7.593 11.729  22 28 21 35 
LDCs (49) 173.51  0.578 1.104  1.892 2.896  22 29 24 35 
NICs (6)
a 1410.13  10.391 8.972  33.988 23.534  10 11 11 12 
aExcluding Hong Kong, China re-exports. 
*Break in series. 
-Not applicable. 
...Not available. 
Note:  Recent figures for a number of  countries and territories have be en estimated by the Secretariat 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 55 
 
 
  Appendix  Table 2:  Merchandise imports of de veloping economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
             
Worlda 16127.16  100.000 100.000  - -  12 15 15 15              
Developing  
economiesa 5506.03  27.809 34.141  100.000 100.000  15 20 18 21              
Latin America and the 
Caribbean 918.70  5.924 5.697  21.303 16.685  11 20 19 22 
Developing Europe 282.99  1. 099 1.755  3.953 5.140  19 22 24 20 
Africa 465.56  1.976 2.887  7.107 8.455  17 25 24 26 
Middle East 586.22  2.541 3. 635  9.139 10.647  17 25 24 25 
Developing Asiaa 3252.56  16.268 20.168  58.498 59.073  15 18 16 20                           
Afghanistan 3.35  0.018 0. 021  0.064 0.061  14 14 9 19 
Albania 5.25  0.017 0.033  0.060 0.095  22 31 37 25 
Algeria 39.48  0.139 0.245  0.501 0.717  20 36 29 43 
American Samoa 0.68  0.008 0.004  0.028 0.012  4 8 12 5 
Angolab 21.10  0.046 0.131  0.166 0.383  27 55 56 54 
Antigua and Barbuda 0.77  0. 006 0.005  0.022 0.014  8 11 17 6 
Argentina 57.42  0.382 0.356  1.374 1.043  11 30 31 28 
Aruba 1.11  0.013 0.007  0.046 0.020  4 3 7 0 
Bahamas 3.12  0.031 0.019  0.113 0.057  5 7 8 6 
Bahrain 12.50  0.070 0.078  0.253 0.227  13 9 9 9 
Bangladesh 23.84  0.135 0.148  0.485 0.433  13 22 16 28 
Barbados 1.89  0.018 0.012  0.063 0.034  6 8 5 11 
Belize 0.84  0.008 0.005  0.029 0.015  6 13 4 22 
Benin 1.99  0.009 0.012  0.033 0.036  16 27 30 24 
Bhutan 0.54  0.003 0.003  0.010 0.010  15 14 25 3 
Bolivarian Rep. of 
Venezuela 49.64  0.246 0.308  0.885 0.902  15 22 37 8 
Bolivia 4.99  0.028 0.031  0.100 0.091  13 33 23 44 
Bosnia and 
Herzegovina 12.28  0.047 0.076  0.170 0.223  19 29 33 26 
Botswana 5.17  0.032 0.032  0.114 0.094  12 30 32 28 Brazil 182.41  0.897 1.131  3.225 3.313  15 38 32 44 
Brunei Darussalam 2.30  0.017 0.014  0.060 0.042  10 17 25 9 
Burkina Faso 1.80  0.009 0.011  0.033 0.033  14 17 23 11 
Burundi 0.40  0.002 0.002  0.008 0.007  13 -3 -26 26 
Cambodia
b 6.60  0.029 0.041  0.106 0.120  17 18 14 22 
Cameroon 4.36  0.023 0.027  0.081 0.079  14 18 17 18 Cape Verde 0.83  0.003 0. 005  0.013 0.015  17 23 38 10 
Central African 
Republic 0.31  0.002 0.002  0.006 0.006  13 24 23 24 
Chad 1.83  0.005 0.011  0.017 0.033  25 16 11 22 
Chile 61.90  0.281 0.384  1.011 1.124  16 27 23 31 
China 1132.49  3.418 7.022  12.292 20.568  22 20 21 18 
Colombia 39.67  0.175 0.246  0.630 0.720  17 23 26 21 
Comoros 0.18  0.001 0.001  0.002 0.003  20 25 21 29 
Congo
b 2.99  0.007 0.019  0.025 0.054  26 22 43 5 
 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 56  
 
  Appendix
 Table 2:  Merchandise imports of de veloping economies a nd regions, 2000-2008 
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Congo, Dem. Rep. of 4.10  0.011 0.025  0.038 0.074  25 22 20 24 
Cook Islands 0.15  0.001 0.001  0.003 0.003  15 23 -1 52 
Costa Rica 15.37  0.097 0.095  0.348 0.279  12 15 12 19 
Côte d'Ivoireb 7.15  0.042* 0.044  0.152* 0.130  - 15 15 16 
Croatia 30.73  0.120 0.191  0.431 0.558  19 20 20 19 
Cuba 14.50  0.074 0.090  0.264 0.263  15 19 6 33 
Djiboutib 0.58  0.003 0.004  0.011 0.011  14 31 41 23 
Dominica 0.23  0.002 0.001  0.008 0.004  5 16 17 15 
Dominican Republicb 16.10  0.144 0.100  0.518 0.292  7 15 12 18 
Ecuador 18.69  0.057 0.116  0.203 0.339  22 24 15 34 
Egypt 47.54  0.221 0.295  0.796 0.863  16 32 36 28 
El Salvador 9.75  0.075 0.060  0.270 0.177  9 13 14 12 
Equatorial Guinea 3.27  0.007 0.020  0.025 0.059  28 27 37 18 
Eritrea 0.53  0.007 0.003  0.026 0.010  1 3 3 4 
Ethiopia 7.70  0.019 0.048  0.069 0.140  25 27 20 34 
Fiji 2.27  0.013 0.014  0.045 0.041  13 12 0 26 
French Polynesia 2.24  0.015 0.014  0.053 0.041  11 16 13 20 
FYR Macedonia 6.85  0.032 0. 042  0.114 0.124  16 35 39 31 
Gabon 2.45  0.014 0.015  0.052 0.044  13 19 16 23 
Gambia 0.33  0.003 0.002  0.010 0.006  7 13 24 3 
Ghana 10.26  0.045 0.064  0.162 0.186  17 23 20 27 Grenada 0.36  0.004 0.002  0.013 0.007  5 10 22 0 
Guatemala 14.55  0.073* 0.090  0.262* 0.264  ... 11 14 7 
Guinea 1.60  0.009 0.010  0.033 0.029  13 30 26 33 
Guinea-Bissau
b 0.16  0.001* 0.001  0.003* 0.003  ... 12 7 18 
Guyana 1.30  0.009 0.008  0.031 0.024  11 21 19 23 
Haiti 2.15  0.016 0.013  0.057 0.039  10 14 13 16 
Hondurasb 10.39  0.061 0.064  0.218 0.189  13 19 17 21 
Hong Kong, China 392.96  - -  - -  8 8 10 6 
  retained imports 97.65  1.091 0.605  3.924 1.773  4 6 9 4 
India 293.37  0.782 1.819  2.814 5.328  24 30 25 35 
Indonesia 126.16  0.662 0.782  2.381 2.291  14 25 15 36 
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 57.41  0.211 0.356  0.759 1.043  19 19 10 28 
Iraq 31.20  0.203 0.193  0.731 0.567  11 22 3 45 
Israel 67.66  0.572 0.420  2.058 1.229  8 16 17 15 
Jamaica 8.55  0.051 0.053  0.182 0.155  13 23 14 32 
Jordan 16.94  0.070 0.105  0.251 0.308  18 21 18 24 
Kenya 11.07  0.047 0.069  0.170 0.201  17 24 24 23 
Kiribati 0.06  0.001 0.000  0.002 0.001  4 -7 11 -22 
Korea, Dem. People's 
Rep. of 3.95  0.026 0.024  0.092 0.072  11 17 6 29 
Korea, Republic of 435.27  2.437 2.699  8.764 7.905  13 19 15 22 Kuwait 24.87  0.109 0.154  0.391 0.452  17 20 18 22 
Lao People's Dem. Rep. 1.30  0.008 0.008  0.029 0.024  12 11 0 22 
Lebanon 16.75  0.095 0.104  0.340 0.304  13 32 27 37 
Lesotho 2.04  0.012 0.013  0.044 0.037  12 17 16 17 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 57 
 
 
  Appendix  Table 2:  Merchandise imports of de veloping economies a nd regions, 2000-2008 
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Liberia 0.81  0.010* 0.005  0.036* 0.015  ... 32 7 63 
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 11.50  0.057 0.071  0.204 0.209  15 38 28 48 
Macao, China 5.37  0.034 0.033  0.123 0.097  11 8 18 0 
Madagascar 4.04  0.017 0. 025  0.060 0.073  18 50 46 53 
Malawi 1.65  0.008 0.010  0.029 0.030  15 17 14 20 
Malaysia 156.90  1.245 0.973  4.476 2.850  8 9 12 7 
Maldives 1.39  0.006 0.009  0.021 0.025  17 22 18 27 
Mali 2.55  0.012 0.016  0.044 0.046  15 18 20 17 
Marshall Islands 0.10  0.001 0.001  0.003 0.002  8 5 4 5 
Mauritania 1.75  0.007 0.011  0.025 0.032  18 22 30 15 
Mauritius 4.67  0.032 0.029  0.114 0.085  11 13 7 20 
Mexico 323.15  2.774 2.004  9.977 5.869  7 10 10 9 
Micronesia 0.14  0.002 0.001  0.006 0.003  3 1 1 0 
Mongolia 3.62  0.009 0.022  0.034 0.066  25 56 43 71 
Montenegro 2.92  - 0.018  - 0.053  - 25 48 5 
Montserrat 0.03  0.000 0.000  0.001 0.001  5 5 -2 11 
Morocco 41.75  0.175 0.259  0.630 0.758  17 32 33 30 
Mozambique 3.80  0.018 0.024  0.063 0.069  16 15 6 25 
Myanmar 4.29  0.036 0.027  0.131 0.078  8 29 29 29 
Namibia 4.02  0.024 0.025  0.085 0.073  13 18 22 14 
Nepal 3.60  0.024 0.022  0.086 0.065  11 20 17 24 Netherlands Antilles 3.13  0.043* 0.019  0.156* 0.057  ... 19 15 23 
New Caledonia 3.23  0.014 0.020  0.050 0.059  17 24 33 15 
Nicaragua 4.34  0.027 0.027  0.099 0.079  12 20 19 21 
Niger 1.40  0.006 0.009  0.022 0.025  17 21 12 32 
Nigeria 41.70  0.132 0.259  0.476 0.757  22 38 35 41 
Niue 0.01  0.000 0.000  0.000 0.000  18 46 87 14 
Oman 22.99  0.078 0.143  0.280 0.418  21 44 45 43 
Pakistan 42.33  0.165 0. 262  0.593 0.769  19 19 9 30 
Palau 0.13  0.002 0.001  0.007 0.002  1 6 -5 18 
Panama 9.05  0.051 0.056  0.185 0.164  13 37 42 32 
Papua New Guinea 3.48  0.017 0.022  0.063 0.063  15 24 32 16 
Paraguay 10.20  0.033 0.063  0.120 0.185  21 32 22 42 
Peru 29.98  0.113 0.186  0.405 0.545  19 40 34 46 
Philippines 60.29  0.562* 0.374  2.022* 1.095  ... 6 7 4 
Qatar 26.85  0.049 0.166  0.178 0.488  30 28 34 22 
Rwanda 1.14  0.003 0.007  0.012 0.021  23 44 35 54 
Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.29  0.003 0.002  0.011 0.005  5 7 9 5 
Saint Lucia 0.66  0.005 0.004  0.019 0.012  8 5 4 7 
Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines 0.37  0.002 0.002  0.009 0.007  11 17 20 14 
Samoa 0.25  0.002 0.002  0.006 0.005  11 7 4 10 Sao Tome and Principe 0.11  0.000 0.001  0.002 0.002  18 27 12 44 
Saudi Arabia 115.15  0.459 0.714  1.651 2.091  18 28 29 28 
Senegal 6.53  0.023* 0.040  0.083* 0.119  ... 33 33 34 
Serbia 23.00  - 0.143  - 0.418  - 32 41 24 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 58  
 
  Appendix
 Table 2:  Merchandise imports of de veloping economies a nd regions, 2000-2008 
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Serbia and Montenegro -  0.056 -  0.203 -  - - - - 
Seychelles 0.91  0.005 0.006  0.019 0.017  13 10 13 6 
Sierra Leone 0.56  0.002 0.003  0.008 0.010  18 20 14 26 
Singapore 319.78  2.043* 1.983  7.347* 5.808  ... 16 10 22 
Solomon Islands 0.30  0.001 0.002  0.005 0.005  16 17 32 3 
Somalia ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... ... ... 
South Africa 99.48  0.451 0.617  1.622 1.807  16 12 12 12 
Sri Lanka 14.01  0.109 0.087  0.392 0.254  9 17 10 24 
Sudan 9.15  0.024 0.057  0.085 0.166  25 6 9 4 
Suriname 1.30  0.008 0. 008  0.029 0.024  12 14 4 25 
Swaziland 2.20  0.016 0.014  0.057 0.040  10 7 5 9 
Syrian Arab Republic 18.32  0.058* 0.114  0.208* 0.333  ... 26 28 25 
Taipei, Chinese 240.45  2.136 1.491  7.680 4.367  7 9 8 10 
Tanzania 7.08  0.023 0.044  0.083 0.129  21 29 26 33 
Thailand 178.65  0.940 1.108  3.382 3.245  14 18 9 28 
Togo 1.54  0.009 0.010  0.031 0.028  13 11 12 10 
Tonga 0.17  0.001 0.001  0.004 0.003  12 21 23 19 
Trinidad and Tobago 9.97  0.050 0.062  0.181 0.181  15 24 18 30 
Tunisia 24.62  0.130 0.153  0.468 0.447  14 28 27 29 
Turkey 201.96  0.828 1.252  2.976 3.668  18 20 22 19 
Tuvalu 0.03  0.000 0.000  0.000 0.000  23 44 22 69 Uganda 4.53  0.023 0.028  0.084 0.082  14 33 37 30 
United Arab Emirates 165.62  0.532 1.027  1.912 3.008  21 29 32 25 
Uruguay 8.93  0.053 0.055  0.189 0.162  13 36 17 59 
Vanuatu 0.29  0.001 0.002  0.005 0.005  16 34 26 42 
Viet Nam 80.42  0.237 0. 499  0.854 1.461  23 34 40 28 
Yemen 9.96  0.035 0.062  0.127 0.181  20 28 40 17 
Zambia 5.11  0.015* 0.032  0.054* 0.093  ... ... 29 ... 
Zimbabwe 2.95  0.028 0.018  0.102 0.054  6 15 13 16 
             
Memorandum items:             
Developed economies 10123.33  70.953 62.772  - -  10 12 13 11 
Commonwealth of  
Independent States 
(CIS) 497.80  1.238 3.087  4.453 9.041  25 33 35 32 
LDCs (49) 158.39  0.667 0.982  2.399 2.877  17 25 23 27 
NICs (6)
a 1428.70  9.892 8.859  35.572 25.948  10 14 11 17 
aExcluding Hong Kong, China imports for re-exports. 
bImports are valued f.o.b. 
*Break in series. 
-Not applicable. 
...Not available. 
Note:  Recent figures for a number of  countries and territories have be en estimated by the Secretariat 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 59 
 
 
  Appendix  Table 3:  Commercial services exports of developing economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
             
World 3777.86  100.000 100.000  - -  12 16 20 12              
Developing economies 1029.54  24.465 27.252  100.000 100.000  14 18 22 14              
Latin America and the 
Caribbean 126.73  4.066 3.355  16.621 12.309  10 15 16 14 
Developing Europe 59.83  1. 695 1.584  6.930 5.812  11 20 18 22 
Africa 87.82  2.128* 2.325  8.698* 8.530  14 18 23 13 
Middle East 97.35  2.284 2. 577  9.334 9.456  14 16 14 19 
Developing Asia 657.80  14. 292 17.412  58.417 63.893  15 19 24 13                           
Afghanistan ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... ... ... 
Albania 2.42  0.029 0.064  0.118 0.235  24 28 30 26 
Algeria 3.10  0.063 0.082  0.256 0.301  16 17 10 25 
Angola ...  0.018 ...  0. 074 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Anguilla 0.13  0.004 0.003  0.017 0.012  9 1 12 -8 
Antigua and Barbuda 0.51  0. 027 0.013  0.112 0.049  3 5 4 5 
Argentina 11.87  0.322 0.314  1.318 1.153  12 23 30 16 
Aruba 1.66  0.067 0.044  0.274 0.161  7 13 13 13 
Bahamas 2.50  0.131 0.066  0.537 0.243  3 2 7 -2 
Bahrain 3.74  0.063* 0.099  0.258* 0.363  ... 6 6 6 
Bangladesh 0.89  0.019 0.024  0.078 0.087  15 22 14 30 
Barbados ...  0.071 ...  0.291 ...  ... ... 12 ... 
Belize 0.36  0.009 0.009  0.037 0.035  13 3 9 -3 
Benin ...  0.009 ...  0. 035 ...  ... ... 43 ... 
Bhutan 0.05  0.001 0.001  0.005 0.005  13 1 16 -13 
Bolivarian Rep. of 
Venezuela 1.71  0.071 0.045  0.292 0.166  6 8 6 10 
Bolivia 0.48  0.014 0.013  0.057 0.047  11 2 5 0 Bosnia and 
Herzegovina 1.66  0.030 0. 044  0.124 0.161  18 21 28 14 
Botswana 0.99  0.021 0.026  0.084 0.096  16 13 20 8 
Brazil 28.82  0.605 0.763  2.473 2.800  16 27 26 27 
Brunei Darussalam ...  0.013 .. .  0.055 ...  ... ... 10 ... 
Burkina Faso ...  0.002 ...  0.008 ...  ... ... -1 ... 
Burundi 0.00  0.000 0.000  0.001 0.000  6 -24 18 -50 
Cambodia 1.61  0.029 0.043  0.117 0.156  18 14 21 6 
Cameroon 0.55  0.039 0.015  0.159 0.054  -1 0 -14 16 
Cape Verde 0.53  0.007 0. 014  0.028 0.051  23 21 30 13 
Central African 
Republic 0.03  0.001 0.001  0.002 0.003  16 14 18 11 
Chad 0.09  0.001 0.002  0.006 0.009  20 12 12 11 Chile 10.65  0.270 0.282  1.102 1.034  13 17 14 20 
China 146.45  2.035 3.876  8.318 14.224  22 27 33 20 
Colombia 3.97  0.134 0.105  0.548 0.385  9 10 8 11 
Comoros ...  0.003 ...  0.010 ...  ... ... 8 ... 
Congo 0.36  0.009 0.010  0.036 0.035  14 20 20 20 
 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 60  
 
  Appendix
 Table 3:  Commercial services exports of developing economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Congo, Dem. Rep. of ...  0.005 ...  0.020 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Costa Rica 4.16  0.129 0.110  0.527 0.404  10 19 22 16 
Côte d'Ivoire 0.85  0.028 0.022  0.114 0.082  9 9 10 9 
Croatia 15.16  0.274 0.401  1.119 1.473  18 18 16 21 
Cuba 9.13  0.178 0.242  0.729 0.887  17 13 19 6 
Djibouti 0.12  0.005 0.003  0.019 0.011  7 9 -5 25 
Dominica 0.10  0.006 0.003  0.024 0.010  2 1 0 2 
Dominican Republic 4.88  0. 212 0.129  0.867 0.474  6 4 5 3 
Ecuador 1.29  0.054 0.034  0.219 0.125  6 16 13 19 
Egypt 24.67  0.654 0.653  2.673 2.397  12 25 24 26 
El Salvador 1.48  0.045 0.039  0.186 0.144  10 3 5 2 
Equatorial Guinea 0.03  0.001 0.001  0.003 0.003  17 20 15 26 
Eritrea ...  0.004 ...  0. 015 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Ethiopia 1.77  0.026 0.047  0.107 0.172  21 41 33 50 
Fiji ...  0.027 ...  0.110 ...  ... .. . -1 ... 
French Polynesia ...  0.000 .. .  0.000 ...  ... ... 14 ... 
FYR Macedonia 0.99  0.020 0. 026  0.080 0.096  17 31 37 24 
Gabon 0.15  0.012 0.004  0.047 0.014  -2 15 13 16 
Gambia ...  0.004 ...  0.017 ...  ... ... 24 ... 
Ghana 1.58  0.033 0.042  0.135 0.153  16 12 28 -2 
Grenada 0.14  0.010 0.004  0.040 0.014  0 6 14 -1 Guatemala 1.65  0.047 0.044  0.194 0.160  11 8 15 2 
Guinea ...  0.002 ...  0. 007 ...  ... ... 29 ... 
Guinea-Bissau ...  0.000 ...  0.001 ...  ... ... 187 ... 
Guyana ...  0.011 ...  0.047 ...  ... ... 17 ... 
Haiti 0.19  0.011 0.005  0.044 0.019  3 14 2 27 
Honduras 0.90  0.033 0.024  0.134 0.088  8 16 9 23 
Hong Kong, China 92.32  2.725 2.444  11.137 8.967  11 13 16 9 
India 102.65  ... 2.717  ... 9.970  ... 20 23 17 
Indonesia 14.66  ... 0.388  .. . 1.424  ... ... ... ... 
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 6.76  0.096 0.179  0.394 0.657  21 9 8 10 
Iraq ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... ... ... 
Israel 23.76  1.034 0.629  4.227 2.308  6 11 10 13 
Jamaica 2.73  0.134 0.072  0.549 0.266  4 2 2 3 
Jordan 4.29  0.108 0.114  0.442 0.417  13 23 16 30 
Kenya 2.52  0.049 0.067  0.201 0.245  17 13 22 5 
Kiribati ...  0.000 ...  0. 002 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Korea, Republic of 74.11  2.008 1.962  8.208 7.198  12 24 28 20 
Kuwait 10.30  0.106 0.273  0.433 1.001  26 17 21 13 
Lao People's Dem. Rep. ...  0. 010 ...  0.041 ...  ... ... 54 ... 
Lebanon 18.93  ... 0.501  ... 1.839  22 28 12 46 
Lesotho ...  0.002 ...  0.010 ...  ... ... 34 ... 
Liberia 0.16  ... 0.004  ... 0.015  ... 5 12 -1 
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ...  0. 008 ...  0.033 ...  ... ... ... ... 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 61 
 
 
  Appendix  Table 3:  Commercial services exports of developing economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Macao, China 18.08  0.221 0.479  0.905 1.756  24 31 37 25 
Madagascar 0.87  0.021 0. 023  0.087 0.085  14 31 55 10 
Malawi ...  0.002 ...  0.009 ...  ... 18 ... ... 
Malaysia 29.34  0.932 0.777  3.811 2.849  10 16 30 4 
Maldives 0.67  0.023 0.018  0.095 0.065  9 11 13 8 
Mali ...  0.006 ...  0. 025 ...  ... ... 23 ... 
Mauritania ...  0.002 ...  0.008 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Mauritius 2.53  0.072 0.067  0.294 0.246  11 23 32 15 
Mexico 18.47  0.916 0.489  3.743 1.794  4 6 7 5 
Mongolia ...  0.005 ...  0.020 ...  ... ... 18 ... 
Montenegro 1.10  - 0.029  - 0.107  - 45 76 20 
Montserrat 0.01  0.001 0.000  0.004 0.001  -1 0 -1 1 
Morocco 12.37  0.193 0.328  0.787 1.202  20 16 24 8 
Mozambique 0.49  0.022 0.013  0.090 0.047  5 17 14 21 
Myanmar ...  0.031 ...  0. 127 ...  -3 ... ... ... 
Namibia 0.53  0.014 0.014  0.058 0.051  12 2 15 -9 
Nepal 0.49  0.028 0.013  0.113 0.048  2 40 35 46 
Netherlands Antilles 2.03  0.108 0.054  0.439 0.197  3 2 6 -1 
New Caledonia ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... 16 ... 
Nicaragua 0.36  0.013 0.009  0.051 0.035  8 8 9 7 
Niger ...  0.002 ...  0. 010 ...  ... ... -5 ... 
Nigeria ...  0.124 ...  0.506 ...  ... ... 55 ... 
Oman 1.97  ... 0.052  ... 0.192  ... 23 24 21 
Pakistan 2.31  0.087 0.061  0.354 0.225  8 2 -1 4 
Panama 5.79  0.132 0.153  0.541 0.563  14 22 25 19 
Papua New Guinea 0.34  0.016 0.009  0.067 0.033  4 7 14 1 
Paraguay 1.00  0.039 0.026  0.158 0.097  7 17 22 13 
Peru 3.50  0.098 0.093  0.399 0.340  12 18 27 9 
Philippines 10.19  0.228 0. 270  0.932 0.990  15 26 52 4 
Qatar ...  0.023 ...  0. 093 ...  ... ... 14 ... 
Rwanda ...  0.003 ...  0.011 ...  ... ... 69 ... 
Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.16  0. 006 0.004  0.026 0.016  7 -2 -8 3 
Saint Lucia 0.36  0.022 0.010  0.089 0.035  1 4 4 5 
Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines 0.18  0.008 0.005  0.035 0.017  4 3 6 -1 
Samoa ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... 4 ... Sao Tome and Principe ...  0.001 ...  0.004 ...  ... ... -50 ... 
Saudi Arabia ...  0.323 ...  1.319 ...  ... ... 8 ... 
Senegal ...  0.022 ...  0.091 ...  ... ... 53 ... 
Serbia 4.00  - 0.106  - 0.389  - 38 50 28 
Serbia and Montenegro ...  0.042 -  0.172 -  - - - - 
Seychelles 0.46  0.018 0.012  0.075 0.044  7 6 9 3 
Sierra Leone ...  0.003 ...  0.011 ...  ... ... -1 ... 
Singapore 82.93  1.895 2.195  7.747 8.055  14 14 26 3 
Solomon Islands 0.06  0.003 0.002  0.012 0.006  4 12 29 -3 
Somalia ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... ... ... 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 62  
 
  Appendix
 Table 3:  Commercial services exports of developing economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
South Africa 12.16  ... 0.322  ... 1.181  ... 2 13 -8 
Sri Lanka 1.98  0.062 0.052  0.253 0.193  10 11 9 13 
Sudan 0.46  0.002 0.012  0.007 0.044  ... 44 56 34 
Suriname 0.23  0.006 0. 006  0.024 0.023  13 5 0 11 
Swaziland ...  0.018 ...  0.075 ...  ... ... 63 ... 
Syrian Arab Republic ...  0. 100 ...  0.408 ...  ... ... 35 ... 
Taipei, Chinese 33.57  1.343 0.889  5.488 3.261  7 8 7 8 
Tanzania 1.93  0.039 0.051  0.159 0.188  16 15 14 16 
Thailand 33.39  0.931 0.884  3.804 3.243  12 16 22 11 
Togo 0.24  0.003 0.006  0.013 0.023  23 23 24 22 
Tonga ...  0.001 ...  0. 004 ...  ... ... 17 ... 
Trinidad and Tobago ...  0.037 ...  0.150 ...  ... ... 14 ... 
Tunisia 5.57  0.181 0.147  0.739 0.541  10 16 14 17 
Turkey 34.49  1.301 0.913  5.316 3.350  8 17 13 22 
Uganda 0.55  0.014 0.015  0.057 0.054  13 8 11 5 
United Arab Emirates 8.96  0.124 0.237  0.509 0.870  22 20 19 21 
Uruguay 2.13  0.084 0.056  0.345 0.207  7 25 31 20 
Vanuatu 0.21  0.008 0.006  0.033 0.021  8 23 26 20 
Viet Nam 6.30  0.182 0. 167  0.746 0.612  11 11 18 4 
Yemen 0.59  ... 0.016  .. . 0.058  ... ... ... ... 
Zambia ...  0.008 ...  0.032 ...  ... ... ... 12 
Zimbabwe ...  0.022 ...  0.090 ...  ... ... ... ... 
             
Memorandum items             
Developed economies 2664.15  74.379 70.520  - -  12 15 19 11 
Commonwealth of 
Independent States 
(CIS) 84.17  1.156 2.228  - -  22 28 27 28 
LDCs (49) 16.94  0.413 0.448  1.690 1.646  14 22 26 19 
NICs (6) 345.66  9.834 9.150  40.195 33.574  11 15 21 9 
*Break in series. 
-Not applicable. 
...Not available. 
Note:  Recent figures for a number of  countries and territories have be en estimated by the Secretariat 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 63 
 
 
  Appendix  Table 4:  Commercial services imports of developing economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
             
World 3489.20  100.000 100.000  - -  12 15 19 12              
Developing economies 1101.99  27.573 31.576  100.000 100.000  13 19 22 15              
Latin America and the 
Caribbean 142.18  4.922 4.074  17.849 12.902  9 17 17 17 
Developing Europe 29.46  0. 731 0.844  2.651 2.673  14 25 32 18 
Africa 120.94  2.588 3.465  9.385 10.975  16 23 30 15 
Middle East 167.86  3.358 4. 810  12.179 15.232  17 24 30 19 
Developing Asia 641.56  15. 975 18.383  57.936 58.218  14 17 20 14                           
Afghanistan ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... ... ... 
Albania 2.36  0.028 0.068  0.103 0.214  24 23 22 25 
Algeria 7.19  0.097 0.206  0.352 0.653  23 52 45 58 
Angola ...  0.156 ...  0. 566 ...  ... ... 69 ... 
Anguilla 0.13  0.003 0.004  0.010 0.012  16 13 30 -1 
Antigua and Barbuda 0.30  0. 010 0.008  0.037 0.027  9 9 14 4 
Argentina 12.58  0.616 0.360  2.235 1.141  4 23 28 19 
Aruba 1.08  0.043 0.031  0.155 0.098  7 5 -6 19 
Bahamas 1.25  0.067 0.036  0.242 0.114  3 -9 -1 -17 
Bahrain 2.03  0.052* 0.058  0.189* 0.184  ... 12 6 19 
Bangladesh 3.68  0.105 0.106  0.380 0.334  12 32 27 38 
Barbados ...  0.032 ...  0.115 ...  ... ... 11 ... 
Belize 0.16  0.008 0.005  0.029 0.015  4 6 11 1 
Benin ...  0.013 ...  0. 046 ...  ... ... 43 ... 
Bhutan 0.11  0.003 0.003  0.012 0.010  11 0 -1 1 
Bolivarian Rep. of 
Venezuela 7.82  0.291 0.224  1.056 0.710  8 16 25 8 
Bolivia 1.02  0.031 0.029  0.112 0.092  11 12 9 15 Bosnia and 
Herzegovina 0.63  0.018 0. 018  0.064 0.057  12 17 29 7 
Botswana 1.08  0.037 0.031  0.134 0.098  9 14 16 11 
Brazil 44.40  1.071 1.272  3.884 4.029  14 28 28 28 
Brunei Darussalam ...  0.053 .. .  0.192 ...  ... ... 9 ... 
Burkina Faso ...  0.009 ...  0.033 ...  ... ... 14 ... 
Burundi 0.17  0.002 0.005  0.009 0.016  22 -5 -13 3 
Cambodia 0.96  0.022 0.027  0.080 0.087  15 12 17 8 
Cameroon 1.71  0.064 0.049  0.233 0.155  8 10 0 21 
Cape Verde 0.33  0.007 0. 010  0.024 0.030  17 17 18 17 
Central African 
Republic 0.18  0.008 0.005  0.028 0.016  6 21 21 20 
Chad 2.46  0.016 0.070  0.057 0.223  34 15 10 19 Chile 11.14  0.321 0.319  1.163 1.011  12 16 18 15 
China 158.00  2.466 4.527  8.943 14.338  20 25 29 22 
Colombia 7.11  0.223 0.204  0.809 0.645  10 14 14 15 
Comoros ...  0.002 ...  0.006 ...  ... ... 10 ... 
Congo 3.77  0.050 0.108  0.182 0.342  23 25 45 7 
 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 64  
 
  Appendix
 Table 4:  Commercial services imports of developing economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Congo, Dem. Rep. of ...  0.016 ...  0.060 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Costa Rica 1.97  0.087 0.056  0.315 0.178  6 10 12 9 
Côte d'Ivoire 2.44  0.079 0.070  0.285 0.222  10 8 8 8 
Croatia 4.51  0.123 0.129  0.445 0.409  12 14 11 17 
Cuba ...  0.056 ...  0. 205 ...  ... ... 5 ... 
Djibouti 0.14  0.004 0.004  0.016 0.012  10 30 23 39 
Dominica 0.06  0.003 0.002  0.012 0.006  3 11 14 7 
Dominican Republic 1.77  0. 092 0.051  0.334 0.161  4 8 12 5 
Ecuador 2.89  0.084 0.083  0.306 0.262  11 13 10 16 
Egypt 16.32  0.492 0.468  1.786 1.481  11 26 27 25 
El Salvador 1.96  0.063 0.056  0.227 0.178  10 15 15 15 
Equatorial Guinea 1.42  0.038 0.041  0.138 0.129  13 30 33 26 
Eritrea ...  0.002 ...  0. 006 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Ethiopia 2.37  0.033 0.068  0.119 0.215  22 43 50 37 
Fiji ...  0.022 ...  0.080 ...  7 5 -3 15 
French Polynesia ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... -5 ... 
FYR Macedonia 0.97  0.018 0. 028  0.065 0.088  18 33 37 30 
Gabon 1.47  0.058 0.042  0.211 0.133  7 18 18 18 
Gambia ...  0.004 ...  0. 015 ...  ... ... -18 ... 
Ghana 1.98  0.035 0.057  0.128 0.179  18 17 25 9 
Grenada 0.11  0.006 0.003  0.021 0.010  3 7 10 5 Guatemala 2.13  0.054 0.061  0.196 0.193  13 10 15 5 
Guinea ...  0.013 ...  0. 046 ...  ... ... 12 ... 
Guinea-Bissau ...  0.002 ...  0.007 ...  ... ... 21 ... 
Guyana ...  0.013 ...  0.048 ...  ... ... 11 ... 
Haiti 0.56  0.019 0.016  0.067 0.051  9 24 30 17 
Honduras 1.20  0.047 0.034  0.171 0.109  7 11 6 17 
Hong Kong, China 45.85  1.691 1.314  6.132 4.161  8 11 15 8 
India 83.60  ... 2.395  ... 7.586  ... 20 22 18 
Indonesia 27.94  ... 0.800  .. . 2.535  ... ... ... ... 
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 12.01  0.149 0.344  0.539 1.090  24 13 14 13 
Iraq ...  ... ...  ... ...  ... ... ... ... 
Israel 19.60  0.805 0.562  2.919 1.779  7 16 20 11 
Jamaica 2.34  0.096 0.067  0.347 0.212  7 9 12 6 
Jordan 3.91  0.101 0.112  0.365 0.355  13 17 17 18 
Kenya 1.66  0.046 0.048  0.166 0.151  12 16 20 12 
Kiribati ...  0.002 ...  0. 006 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Korea, Republic of 91.77  2.266 2.629  8.219 8.327  14 16 21 12 
Kuwait 12.15  0.283 0.348  1.026 1.102  14 17 19 16 
Lao People's Dem. Rep. ...  0.006 ...  0.022 ...  15 21 25 16 
Lebanon 13.39  ... 0.384  ... 1.215  ... 24 14 34 
Lesotho ...  0.003 ...  0.010 ...  ... ... 18 ... 
Liberia 0.29  ... 0.008  ... 0.026  ... 16 1 33 
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ...  0. 056 ...  0.203 ...  ... ... 5 ... 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 65 
 
 
  Appendix  Table 4:  Commercial services imports of developing economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
Macao, China 3.25  0.056 0.093  0.202 0.295  19 33 46 22 
Madagascar 1.16  0.027 0. 033  0.099 0.105  14 64 73 55 
Malawi ...  0.011 ...  0. 042 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Malaysia 29.08  1.142 0.833  4.141 2.639  7 11 18 5 
Maldives 0.34  0.007 0.010  0.027 0.031  15 23 17 29 
Mali ...  0.022 ...  0. 081 ...  ... ... 15 ... 
Mauritania ...  0.012 ...  0.042 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Mauritius 1.91  0.051 0.055  0.187 0.173  12 21 19 22 
Mexico 24.70  1.150 0.708  4.169 2.241  5 5 4 6 
Mongolia ...  0.011 ...  0.039 ...  ... ... 23 ... 
Montenegro 0.51  - 0.015  - 0.047  - 36 16 61 
Montserrat 0.02  0.001 0. 000  0.003 0.002  6 8 9 7 
Morocco 5.48  0.105 0.157  0.379 0.497  17 24 27 21 
Mozambique 0.90  0.030 0.026  0.109 0.082  9 11 12 10 
Myanmar ...  0.021 ...  0. 077 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Namibia 0.59  0.022 0.017  0.080 0.054  8 19 20 17 
Nepal 0.84  0.013 0.024  0.048 0.076  20 31 47 17 
Netherlands Antilles 0.87  0.050 0.025  0.182 0.079  2 8 6 9 
New Caledonia ...  0.000 ...  0.000 ...  ... ... 17 ... 
Nicaragua 0.57  0.023 0.016  0.083 0.052  7 13 16 9 
Niger ...  0.009 ...  0. 031 ...  ... ... 13 ... 
Nigeria ...  0.216 ...  0.784 ...  ... ... 66 ... 
Oman 6.12  0.121 0.175  0.439 0.556  17 25 25 26 
Pakistan 8.99  ... 0.257  ... 0.815  ... 5 4 7 
Panama 2.53  0.075 0.073  0.273 0.230  11 23 23 23 
Papua New Guinea 1.71  0.053 0.049  0.193 0.156  10 8 23 -5 
Paraguay 0.56  0.027 0.016  0.097 0.051  5 24 20 28 
Peru 5.42  0.149 0.155  0.540 0.492  12 28 25 31 
Philippines 8.55  0.356 0. 245  1.291 0.776  6 17 19 16 
Qatar ...  0.060 ...  0. 217 ...  ... ... ... ... 
Rwanda ...  0.008 ...  0.028 ...  ... ... 21 ... 
Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.12  0.005 0.003  0.018 0.011  6 10 13 8 
Saint Lucia 0.18  0.009 0.005  0.031 0.016  5 5 4 5 
Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines 0.09  0.004 0.003  0.013 0.009  8 8 12 5 
Samoa ...  0.001 ...  0. 005 ...  ... ... -1 ... 
Sao Tome and Principe ...  0.001 ...  0.002 ...  ... ... -3 ... 
Saudi Arabia ...  0.751 ...  2.725 ...  ... ... 59 ... 
Senegal ...  0.027 ...  0.099 ...  ... ... 49 ... 
Serbia 4.23  - 0.121  - 0.384  - 41 63 22 
Serbia and Montenegro ...  0.020 -  0.073 -  - - - - 
Seychelles 0.36  0.013 0.010  0.046 0.033  9 17 13 21 
Sierra Leone ...  0.006 ...  0.020 ...  ... ... 11 ... 
Singapore 78.87  2.020 2.260  7.327 7.157  13 11 16 6 
Solomon Islands 0.15  0.005 0.004  0.017 0.013  10 34 47 21 
Somalia ...  0.010 ...  0. 038 ...  ... ... ... ... 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 66  
 
  Appendix
 Table 4:  Commercial services imports of developing economies and regions, 2000-2008  
(continued)  
 
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
 Value  Share in world  Share in developing 
economies  Annual percentage change 
 2008  2000 2008  2000 2008  2000-
2008 2006-
2008 2007 2008 
South Africa 16.51  ... 0.473  ... 1.498  ... 9 16 2 
Sri Lanka 2.97  0.109 0.085  0.397 0.269  8 12 9 16 
Sudan 2.55  0.043 0.073  0.158 0.232  ... -3 5 -11 
Suriname 0.37  0.012 0. 011  0.044 0.033  10 21 17 25 
Swaziland ...  0.021 ...  0.075 ...  ... ... 36 ... 
Syrian Arab Republic ...  0. 101 ...  0.366 ...  ... ... 22 ... 
Taipei, Chinese 33.63  1.754 0.964  6.361 3.051  4 3 8 -2 
Tanzania 1.63  0.043 0.047  0.155 0.148  13 16 17 15 
Thailand 46.31  1.054 1.327  3.823 4.203  15 19 16 21 
Togo 0.39  0.008 0.011  0.029 0.035  16 22 16 28 
Tonga ...  0.001 ...  0. 005 ...  ... ... -13 ... 
Trinidad and Tobago ...  0.025 ...  0.091 ...  ... ... 3 ... 
Tunisia 3.00  0.077 0.086  0.279 0.272  13 13 14 13 
Turkey 16.23  0.524 0.465  1.901 1.473  10 25 36 15 
Uganda 1.18  0.032 0.034  0.114 0.107  13 25 27 23 
United Arab Emirates 42.77  0.569 1.226  2.064 3.881  23 33 37 28 
Uruguay 1.37  0.058 0.039  0.210 0.125  6 21 16 27 
Vanuatu 0.09  0.004 0.003  0.016 0.008  5 16 6 27 
Viet Nam 8.62  0.224 0. 247  0.811 0.782  13 30 36 24 
Yemen 2.13  0.052 0.061  0.189 0.193  14 9 1 18 
Zambia ...  0.022 ...  0.080 ...  ... ... 58 ... 
Zimbabwe ...  0.034 ...  0.123 ...  ... ... ... ... 
             
Memorandum items             
Developed economies 2273.01  70.813 65.129  - -  10 13 16 10 
Commonwealth of 
Independent States 
(CIS) 114.19  1.614 3.272  - -  22 28 30 25 
LDCs (49) 46.04  0.904 1.319  3.279 4.178  17 24 32 16 
NICs (6) 325.51  9.927 9.327  36.004 29.538  11 12 16 9 
*Break in series. 
-Not applicable. 
...Not available. 
Note:  Recent figures for a number of  countries and territories have be en estimated by the Secretariat. 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 67 
 
 
  Appendix  Table 5:  Export prices of primary commodities, 2005-2008  
(Indices 2005=100) 
 2005 2006 2007 2008 2005 2006 2007 2008 
    
Food and beverages 100 110 127 157 Agricultural raw materials 100 109 114 113 
Food 100 111 127 157 Timber 100 108 107 108 
Cereals 100 122 159 222 Cotton 100 105 115 129 
Wheat 100 126 167 214 Wool 100 104 144 138 
Maize 100 124 166 227 Rubber 100 140 153 174 
Rice 100 106 116 243 Hides and skins 100 105 110 98 
Barley 100 123 181 211    
Vegetable oils and 
protein meals 100 103 143 193 Minerals and non-ferrous 
metalsa 100 156 183 169 
Meat 100 95 99 103 Copper 100 183 194 189 
Beef 100 97 99 102 Aluminium 100 135 139 136 
Lamb 100 96 101 106 Iron ore 100 119 130 216 
Swine meat 100 94 94 96 Tin 100 119 196 250 
Poultry 100 94 106 115 Nickel 100 163 251 143 
Seafood 100 121 113 113 Zinc 100 237 235 137 
Fish 100 125 112 119 Lead 100 132 265 215 
Shrimp 100 105 116 91 Uranium 100 171 355 230 
Sugar 100 133 102 117    
Bananas 100 118 117 146 Energy 100 119 132 185 
Oranges 100 98 114 132 Natural gas 100 115 117 177 
Beverages 100 108 123 152 Crude petroleum 100 121 133 182 
Coffee 100 112 129 150 Coal 100 104 138 266 
Cocoa beans 100 103 127 167    
Tea 100 112 98 125 All primary commodities 100 121 135 172 
 aExcluding crude petroleum . 
 Note:  The indices are period averages based on dollar prices . 
 
Appendix  Table 6:  Most dynamic products in developing economies' exports, 2006-2008  
(Billion dollars and percentage) 
Product Value  Annual percentage 
change  Share of developing 
economies in world 
Code Description 2000 2006 2008  2000-08 2006-08  2000 2006 2008 
751 Office machines 5.4 9.7 31.1   24 79   42 54 63 
562 Fertilizer, except grp 272 3.1 7.2 22.4   28 76   21 25 29 325 Coke, semi-coke, ret. carbon 1.2 2.8 7.1   25 60   49 48 52 
222 Oilseed (sft. fix. veg. oil) 4.5 10.2 25.6   24 58   33 45 46 
281 Iron ore, concentrates 5.7 24.1 55.3   33 51   49 55 56 
422 Fixed veg. fat, oils, other 5.2 12.2 28.0   23 51   85 86 89 
042 Rice 2.8 5.1 11.3   19 49   65 73 77 
676 Iron, steel bar, shapes etc.  4.0 14.1 28.6   28 42   19 26 32 
287 Ore, concentrated base metals  2.4 9.1 18.3   29 42   43 45 58 
522 Inorganic chemical elements, 
oxides and halogen salts 5.1 12.0 24.0   21 42   31 36 41 
 Note:  Based on SITC Rev.3 at the 3-digit level.  Figures are based on imports reported by 118 countries and 
economies reporting their trade to  the UNSD Comtrade Database. 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 68  
 
  Appendix Table 7:  Network of developing economies merchandise trade by product and 
region, 2006 and 2008  
(Billion dollars) 
 Destinations 
   Developing economies 
Reporter (origin) World 
 Developed 
economies  Total developing Asia Other 
product 2006 2008  2006 2008  2006 2008 2006 2008 2006 2008 
             
Developing economies            
             
Agricultural 
products 309.23 461.61  157.74 207.89  139.13 233.29 71.82 115.63 67.30 117.66 
Food 253.78 390.31  130.71 174.55  111.47 196.64 50.73 88.00 60.74 108.64 
Fuels and mining 
products 1229.78 1870.36  647.82 937.99  548.31 880.69 413.51 682.22 134.81 198.48 
Fuels 1040.05 1620.48  551.36 824.69  458.11 749.60 344.46 582.52 113.65 167.08 
Non-fuel 
minerals 189.73 249.88  96.46 113.29  90.21 131.09 69.05 99.70 21.16 31.39 
Manufactures 2685.62 3549.24  1494.13 1821.86  1128.32 1604.35 748.73 988.09 379.59 616.27 
Iron and steel 117.86 201.53  53.34 79.05  63.06 117.93 35.92 60.35 27.14 57.58 
Office & telecom 
equipment 771.43 889.39  428.55 482.79  337.13 397.37 291.00 334.20 46.13 63.17 Automotive 
products 171.98 227.63  102.76 115.75  62.33 96.25 15.86 23.21 46.47 73.04 
Textiles 120.20 143.06  48.88 53.89  66.95 81.74 37.43 41.31 29.52 40.43 
Clothing 206.76 238.71  165.77 181.09  32.31 39.94 12.84 14.16 19.46 25.77 
Total merchandise 4308.44 5991.85  2330.85 3000.00  1849.83 2773.66 1251.46 1812.03 598.37 961.63 
             
             
Latin America and the Caribbean           
             
Agricultural 
products 116.54 174.97  66.51 89.24  44.06 77.09 15.23 27.19 28.83 49.90 
Food 103.66 157.80  58.05 79.04  39.79 70.50 12.83 23.28 26.95 47.23 
Fuels and mining products 227.16 314.25  153.50 196.76  71.78 114.27 25.52 45.22 46.26 69.06 
Fuels 149.14 214.06  106.44 142.08  41.02 69.06 6.03 14.26 34.99 54.80 
Non-fuel minerals 78.02 100.19  47.06 54.68  30.76 45.22 19.49 30.95 11.27 14.26 
Manufactures 324.17 385.35  239.77 263.93  83.11 119.39 10.19 14.31 72.93 105.07 
Iron and steel 20.52 27.84  11.46 13.38  8.93 14.32 1.97 4.59 6.96 9.73 Office & telecom equipment 53.44 62.39  44.72 53.61  8.65 8.71 2.64 2.25 6.01 6.47 
Automotive 
products 61.57 69.31  44.36 45.83  16.97 22.87 0.62 0.56 16.35 22.31 Textiles 4.98 5.82  2.90 2.61  2.05 3.16 0.08 0.08 1.98 3.08 
Clothing 18.96 17.35  17.78 15.19  1.14 2.13 0.02 0.02 1.12 2.11 
Total merchandise 685.24 891.39  466.34 557.93  199.26 311.17 50.97 86.79 148.29 224.38 
             
             
Developing Europe            
             
Agricultural 
products 12.223 16.58  6.981 8.213  4.089 6.488 0.295 0.458 3.79 6.03 
Food 10.932 14.968  6.105 7.163  3.766 6.046 0.252 0.406 3.51 5.64 
Fuels and mining 
products 10.951 17.702  6.563 8.047  3.907 7.328 0.725 1.721 3.18 5.61 
Fuels 5.979 10.598  3.098 3.903  2.757 5.143 0.293 0.61 2.46 4.53 
Non-fuel 
minerals 4.97 7.10  3.47 4.14  1.15 2.19 0.43 1.11 0.72 1.07 
Manufactures 84.56 128.59  57.73 76.70  17.65 36.64 1.46 2.73 16.19 33.90 
Iron and steel 9.19 20.50  5.01 7.01  3.93 12.92 0.04 0.47 3.89 12.45 
Office & telecom 
equipment 3.53 3.08  3.17 2.50  0.24 0.44 0.02 0.04 0.22 0.40 Automotive products 11.99 18.45  9.50 14.15  1.34 2.02 0.09 0.10 1.25 1.92 
Textiles 7.85 9.76  5.09 5.71  1.41 2.13 0.21 0.28 1.20 1.84 
Clothing 13.83 16.09  12.26 13.94  0.69 1.18 0.03 0.05 0.66 1.13 
Total merchandise 109.68 168.27  72.34 96.05  26.33 52.57 2.71 5.28 23.62 47.29 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 69 
 
 
  Appendix Table 7:  Network of  developing economies merchandise trade by product and region, 
2006 and 2008 (continued)  
 
(Billion dollars) 
 Destinations 
   Developing economies 
Reporter (origin) World 
 Developed 
economies  Total developing Asia Other 
product 2006 2008  2006 2008  2006 2008 2006 2008 2006 2008 
             
Africa            
             
Agricultural 
products 28.87 37.94  16.91 20.92  11.08 15.56 3.77 4.84 7.30 10.72 
Food 22.60 30.43  13.91 17.27  7.96 12.00 1.71 2.56 6.25 9.44 
Fuels and mining 
products 254.82 393.90  181.18 271.17  72.03 117.24 43.83 75.44 28.20 41.80 
Fuels 225.00 349.69  160.99 245.45  62.81 99.67 37.11 62.95 25.70 36.71 
Non-fuel 
minerals 29.82 44.22  20.19 25.72  9.22 17.57 6.72 12.48 2.50 5.09 
Manufactures 69.64 99.87  45.19 57.23  23.34 40.82 5.64 10.04 17.70 30.78 
Iron and steel 8.27 12.13  4.37 6.04  3.75 5.96 1.59 2.61 2.16 3.35 
Office & telecom 
equipment 2.38 2.57  1.53 1.56  0.84 1.00 0.11 0.09 0.73 0.91 Automotive 
products 5.04 7.63  3.79 4.92  1.24 2.69 0.21 0.32 1.03 2.37 
Textiles 2.10 2.27  1.30 1.51  0.73 0.70 0.07 0.08 0.66 0.63 
Clothing 9.63 12.02  9.12 11.33  0.40 0.59 0.02 0.04 0.38 0.55 
Total merchandise 369.66 557.81  246.86 353.49  114.30 186.06 55.14 94.14 59.16 91.92 
             
             
Middle East           
             
Agricultural 
products 15.24 24.25  2.35 3.08  12.09 19.37 1.60 1.58 10.50 17.79 
Food 13.83 22.79  1.92 2.53  11.18 18.53 1.24 1.31 9.94 17.22 
Fuels and mining 
products 485.85 756.53  221.62 339.64  241.55 387.98 202.60 340.95 38.95 47.03 
Fuels 477.50 740.55  220.03 337.81  234.97 374.51 199.05 332.93 35.92 41.58 
Non-fuel 
minerals 8.35 15.98  1.59 1.83  6.58 13.47 3.55 8.02 3.03 5.45 
Manufactures 142.80 220.30  40.55 58.56  94.97 151.46 21.09 43.26 73.88 108.19 
Iron and steel 4.63 6.33  0.55 0.50  4.01 5.53 0.44 0.40 3.57 5.13 
Office & telecom equipment 13.42 18.53  2.60 3.76  9.38 13.35 1.34 2.78 8.05 10.58 
Automotive 
products 11.88 18.44  0.28 1.87  10.53 15.23 0.49 0.79 10.04 14.44 Textiles 7.19 9.27  1.10 1.27  5.73 7.69 0.36 0.43 5.38 7.26 
Clothing 5.53 5.99  2.12 1.65  3.04 3.95 0.06 0.10 2.98 3.85 
Total merchandise 661.33 1021.22  271.08 405.33  357.20 571.11 229.85 391.25 127.35 179.87 
             
             
Developing Asia            
             
Agricultural 
products 136.36 207.87  64.98 86.43  67.81 114.79 50.93 81.56 16.89 33.23 
Food 102.76 164.32  50.73 68.55  48.77 89.56 34.69 60.45 14.08 29.11 
Fuels and mining products 251.00 387.98  84.95 122.37  159.04 253.88 140.83 218.90 18.21 34.98 
Fuels 182.43 305.59  60.80 95.46  116.54 201.23 101.98 171.76 14.57 29.46 
Non-fuel minerals 68.58 82.39  24.16 26.91  42.50 52.65 38.86 47.13 3.64 5.52 
Manufactures 2064.45 2715.12  1110.89 1365.45  909.25 1256.05 710.35 917.74 198.90 338.32 
Iron and steel 75.26 134.74  31.95 52.13  42.44 79.19 31.87 52.26 10.57 26.93 Office & telecom 
equipment 698.65 802.83  376.53 421.37  318.02 373.86 286.90 329.05 31.12 44.81 
Automotive 
products 81.51 113.79  44.83 48.99  32.25 53.44 14.46 21.44 17.79 32.01 
Textiles 98.09 115.94  38.50 42.79  57.03 68.06 36.73 40.45 20.30 27.62 
Clothing 158.81 187.26  124.50 138.98  27.05 32.09 12.71 13.94 14.33 18.15 
Total merchandise 2482.53 3353.16  1274.23 1587.20  1152.74 1652.75 912.79 1234.58 239.95 418.17 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 70  
 
  Appendix Table 8:  Per capita exports and imports  of goods and commercial services for selected 
developing economies, 2000-2008  
(Dollars per capita) 
 Exports per capita   Imports per capita 
 2000 2008   2000 2008 
Singapore 44979 88109  Singapore 41837 80350 
Hong Kong, China 42329 65574  Hong Kong, China 38483 62227 
Qatar 38728 44648  Qatar 13570 25010 
United Arab Emirates 15915 55343  United Arab Emirates 12036 48852 Brunei Darussalam
a 9980 21945  Bahrain 7894 42445 
Kuwait 9611 71662  Seychelles 6138 16042 
Bahrain 11039 50541  Taipei, Chinese 7350 11733 Trinidad and Tobago
a 3716 10728  Bahamas 9738 13088 
Taipei, Chinese 7712 12522  Israel 7386 11482 
Saudi Arabia 3981 12975  Antigua and Barbuda 6369 11504 Oman 4900 14251  Saint Kitts and Nevis 5532 7542 
Equatorial Guinea 2377 11757  Korea, Republic of 4615 10681 
Israel 7348 11002  Barbados  
a 5921 9103 
Korea, Republic of 4839 10443  Kuwait 4825 26369 
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 2274 9693   Trinidad and Tobago  a 2833 5994 
 a2007 instead of 2008. 
 Source:   WTO Secretariat and World Bank. 
  WT/COMTD/W/172 
 Page 71 
 
 
  Appendix 9:  Composition of reporter and partner groups  
 
DEVELOPING ECONOMIES include 
 
Latin America (including the Caribbean):  
 
• Mexico (classified within North America in the International Trade Statistics 
publication); 
• Central America:  Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua 
and Panama; 
• South America:  Argentina, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, 
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Pa raguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay; 
• The Caribbean:  Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, 
Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, 
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sain t Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad 
and Tobago; 
• Other countries and territories in Latin America n.e.s. 
 
Developing Europe:  
 
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia , former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 
Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. 
 
Africa:  
 
• North Africa:  Algeria, Egypt, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco and Tunisia  
• Sub-Saharan Africa:  Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, 
Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Ch ad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the 
Congo, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, 
Madagascar, Mali, Malawi, Mauritania, Ma uritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, 
Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe , Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, 
Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland,  United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, 
Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 
 
Middle East:  
 
Bahrain, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Is rael, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, 
Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. 
 
Developing Asia:  
 
Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Brunei Da russalam; Cambodia; China; Fiji; Hong 
Kong Special Administrative Region of China (Hong Kong, China); India; Indonesia; 
Kiribati; Lao People's Democratic Republic ; Maldives; Macau, China; Malaysia; 
Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Republic of 
Korea; Samoa; Separate Customs Territo ry of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu 
(Chinese Taipei); Singapore; Solomon Isla nds; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Tonga; Tuvalu; 
Vanuatu; Viet Nam, and other countries and te rritories in Asia and the Pacific n.e.s. 
 WT/COMTD/W/172 
Page 72  
 
  THE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDCs) include: 
 
Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros,  Democratic Republic of the Congo, 
Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethi opia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, 
Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic , Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, 
Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, My anmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, 
Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra  Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, 
Timor Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Unite d Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen 
and Zambia. 
 
Note: the LDCs is a sub-group of developing economies in the report. 
 
DEVELOPED ECONOMIES include: 
 North America (excluding Mexico for this report): 
 Bermuda, Canada, United States of America, and territories in North America n.e.s. 
 
Developed Europe:  
 Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech  Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, 
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands , Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, 
Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Swed en, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and 
territories in Europe n.e.s. 
 
Developed Asia:  
 
Australia, Japan and New Zealand. 
 
THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES (CIS) include: 
 
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,  Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, 
Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turk menistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. 
 
THE NICs (6) or "Six East-Asian traders" include: 
 
Hong Kong, China; the Republic of Korea;  Malaysia; Singapore;  Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei); and Thailand. 
 
__________