U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

Digital Economy and Cross-Border Trade: 

The Value of Digitally-Deliverable Services

Executive Summary

 he digital, or Internet, economy has transformed many aspects of our lives

over the past two decades. How we communicate, entertain ourselves, 

make decisions, and do business continues to evolve as the digital economy 

grows in size and importance. Given this transformation, it is becoming even 

more important for policymakers to consider how the Internet affects our lives 

and the economy as a whole. 

The Department of Commerce has played an instrumental role in developing 

policies that facilitate the digital economy. The Department’s Internet Policy 

Task Force identifies leading public policy and operational challenges in the 

Internet environment. The Task Force is committed to maintaining the global 

free flow of information online. This report provides a framework for 

understanding the size and nature of some cross border data flows. We do not

forecast how data flows would change in response to any given policy decision.

Our analysis uses digitally-enabled services categories identified in previous 

research as a starting point for identifying “digitally-deliverable” services—i.e., 

services that may be, but are not necessarily, delivered digitally. These service 

categories are the ones in which digital technologies present the greatest 

opportunity to transform the relationship between buyer and seller from the 

traditional in-person delivery mode to a digital one. The aggregate trade data 

used in this report capture a mix of transactions that are entirely digital, 

somewhat digital, or entirely non-digital; our estimates focus on those 

transactions that are most likely to be done digitally. Because we do not have a 

direct measure of services that are digitally traded within each service category, 

it is difficult to precisely estimate how much this percentage has increased over 

time. Instead, this paper presents an upper-bound estimate of the percentage 

of services exports that are digitally-deliverable.

We also know that there is a great deal of interest in understanding the 

economic value related to digitally-enabled data and services delivered to users 

at no price. An exact number of bytes associated with these data flows may not 

be known, but the number is large and growing. Data flows related to 

subscribers’ use of Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other free online services are 

not covered in this report because they are not captured as monetary 

transactions in Federal cross-border trade statistics. However, traditional 

services trade related to the operation of these free services—such as

By 

Jessica R. Nicholson 

and 

Ryan Noonan

ESA Issue Brief

# 01-14

January 27, 2014

T
Page 2 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration 

advertising services, Internet access services, and legal services—are included in our analysis if they are 

exported to other countries from the United States. 

Our analysis reveals that in 2011:

 The United States exported $357.4 billion in digitally-deliverable services. This represented over 60 

percent of U.S. services exports and about 17 percent of total U.S. goods and services exports.1

 The United States imported $221.9 billion in digitally-deliverable services. This represented 56 

percent of U.S. services imports and about 8 percent of total U.S. goods and services imports.

 The United States had a digitally-deliverable services trade surplus of $135.5 billion.

 The total value of digitally-deliverable services in the supply chain of total U.S. goods and services 

exports was $627.8 billion, or about 34 percent of total export value.

 The majority of U.S. digitally-deliverable services exports went to Europe and to the Asia and Pacific 

region.

 Specifically, the United States exported the highest value of digitally-deliverable services to the 

United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, and Japan. The highest values of digitally-deliverable imports 

came from the United Kingdom, Bermuda, Switzerland, and Canada.

 

1

For consistency with the input-output tables, Table 1 in this report excludes re-exports and presents a larger number (20 

percent) for the digitally-deliverable share of total exports. In contrast, official statistics include re-exports.
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 3

Introduction

The digital, or Internet, economy has 

transformed many aspects of our lives the past 

two decades. How we communicate, entertain 

ourselves, make decisions, and do business 

continues to evolve as the digital economy 

grows in size and importance. Given this 

transformation, it is becoming more important 

for policymakers to consider how the Internet 

affects our lives and the economy as a whole. 

The Department of Commerce has played an 

instrumental role in developing policies that 

facilitate the digital economy. The 

Department’s Internet Policy Task Force 

identifies leading public policy and operational 

challenges in the Internet environment. The 

Task Force is committed to maintaining the 

global free flow of information online. This 

report provides a framework for understanding 

the size and nature of some cross border data 

flows. We do not forecast how data flows 

would change in response to any given policy 

decision.

A portion of cross-border data flows are 

associated with transactions that are captured 

in traditional services trade statistics. For 

example, an engineering firm or a financial 

services firm exporting their services likely 

transmits data across the U.S. border in the 

course of day-to-day-activities. While the 

number of bytes of data associated with these 

cross-border transactions is not measured like 

tons of coal at the border, the dollar value 

associated with cross-border services 

transactions is collected and published by the 

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). 

This paper estimates the economic value 

associated with cross-border data flows by first

determining which services trade categories 

most likely represent transactions that take 

place online rather than by other means, such 

as people crossing a border to perform the 

service. Previous research has identified a 

number of service categories as digitallyenabled—i.e., those services for which 

information and communications technologies 

(ICT) demonstrably play an important role in 

facilitating cross-border trade.

Services that are not primarily delivered online

are excluded from our analysis. For example, 

education is a category for which the primary 

mode of delivery is in-person rather than digital

and is therefore not included in digital trade. An 

exception is distance learning, which is 

primarily delivered online. Distance learning is 

not part of the education services trade 

category and is captured in official statistics as 

training, a component of business, professional, 

and technical services. 

It is important to note that these digitallydeliverable services are not new trade 

categories. Rather, estimates of digitallydeliverable services trade are based on an 

approximation of how trade in an existing 

category of services likely took place. The 

aggregate trade data capture a mix of 

transactions that are entirely digital, somewhat 

digital, or entirely non-digital; our estimates 

focus on those transactions that are most likely 

to be done digitally. The degree of “digital-ness” 

of transactions in the various services 

categories is also likely changing over time as 

businesses respond to changes in their markets 

and to new technology. 

Because we do not have a direct measure of 

services that are digitally traded within each 

service category, it is difficult to precisely 

estimate how much this percentage has 

increased over time. Instead, this paper 

presents an upper-bound estimate of the 

percentage of services exports that are digitallydeliverable.
Page 4 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

What are Cross-Border Data Flows?

Data cross country borders in a variety of ways.

They are constantly flowing from the United 

States to other countries, and vice versa. Data 

flows can be measured in bytes of digital traffic 

per second, hour, year, or any other amount of 

time. Data flows can also be categorized in 

different ways—for example, by the commercial 

characteristics of the contents. Below, we 

define four categories of data flows:

1. Purely non-commercial traffic, such as

government or military communications.

2. Commercial data and services exchanged 

between businesses or other relatedparties, such as supply chain information, 

personnel data, or design information, at a 

$0 market price.

3. Flows of data that are traded between a 

seller and buyer at a market price. This may 

include royalty payments associated with 

movies, TV, or music sales; online banking 

services; advertising; or other transactions.

4. Digitally-enabled data and services 

delivered to or from end-users at a $0 

market price. Examples include free email 

services, search engine services, map and 

direction services, and social media 

services.

For the purpose of this report, we focus on 

providing an estimate of the potential size of 

the third category, digital trade in services. 

Federal economic statistics collected by the 

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) provide 

estimates of the dollar values associated with 

trade in services, but BEA data are unable to 

quantify the size of information flows in terms 

of bytes. The remaining three categories require 

a non-financial understanding of data flows, 

and Federal economic statistics do not provide 

a sound basis for estimating the size of the 

flows associated with those transactions. 

We know that there is a great deal of interest in 

understanding the economic value related to 

the fourth category above – digitally-enabled 

data and services delivered at no price. An 

exact number of bytes associated with these 

data flows may not be known, but the number 

is large and growing. Data flows related to 

subscribers’ use of Facebook, Google, Twitter, 

and other free online services are not covered 

in this report because they are not captured as 

monetary transactions in Federal cross-border 

trade statistics. However, traditional services 

trade related to the operation of these free 

services—such as advertising services, Internet 

access services, and legal services—are included 

in our analysis if they are exported to other 

countries from the United States. 

Finally, there is one caution to keep in mind. 

The default way of thinking about digital trade 

in books, movies or music tends to be in terms 

of transactions that an individual might make in 

purchasing an e-book, movie, or sound 

recording from an online store or in subscribing 

to a service that provides on-demand access to 

a catalog of movies or music. However, those 

types of transactions do not typically take place 

across borders. In fact, in most cases, they are 

specifically blocked because of the 

geographically-specific legal regimes that 

govern intellectual property associated with 

such content. The correct way of thinking 

about the dollars exchanged in these categories 

is, for example, the exchange of money from a 

firm in one country to a firm in another country 

for the right to sell content that is protected by

intellectual property laws in a given 

geographical area. 2

 

2

BEA will introduce new trade in services categories based 

on new international standards with their June 2014 

revision. The new standards require differentiation of 

licenses to use from licenses to reproduce and distribute. 

The two manuals that give guidance on trade in services 

are published by the International Monetary Fund 

(http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/bop/2007/bopman

6.htm) and the United Nations Statistical Division 

(http://unstats.un.org/unsd/tradeserv/tfsits/msits2010.ht

m).
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 5

If the copyrighted works were supplied to 

foreign consumers from a U.S. business through 

a U.S. affiliate located in the country of the 

purchaser, the transaction would be captured 

by BEA as services supplied through affiliates 

rather than as cross-border trade.3

Digitally-Deliverable Services 

Defined

To understand how the digital economy 

contributes to cross-border trade in services, 

one approach is to identify or estimate those 

services that are delivered to end-users 

digitally. In a recent study, BEA uses the term 

“digitally-enabled services” to refer to those 

services that are principally or largely enabled 

by information and communication 

technologies (ICT).4,5 To measure the size of

digitally-enabled trade, BEA follows the 

definition used by the United Nations 

Conference on Trade and Development 

(UNCTAD). In 2007, UNCTAD defined seven 

categories in the International Monetary Fund 

balance of payments accounts as ICT-enabled: 

communications services; insurance; financial 

services; computer and information services; 

 

3

Services supplied through affiliates cover the delivery of 

services to international markets through establishment of 

a commercial presence. While an important mode of 

delivery, a discussion of services supplied through affiliates 

is beyond the scope of this report. Data on services 

supplied through affiliates are available from BEA at: 

http://www.bea.gov/international/international_services.

htm#detailedstatisticsfor1.

4

http://www.bea.gov/international/pdf/trends_in_

digitally_enabled_services.pdf

5

This paper’s approach excludes services that are not 

primarily delivered online. For example, education is a 

services trade category for which the primary mode of 

delivery is in-person rather than digital; therefore, the 

education services category is not included in digital trade. 

Distance learning, which is primarily delivered online, is 

not part of the education services trade category and is 

captured in official statistics as training, a component of 

business, professional, and technical services.

royalties and license fees; other business 

services; and personal, cultural, and 

recreational services.

These categories correspond to five categories 

in BEA’s cross-border trade statistics: 

 Business, professional, and technical 

services (except construction); 

 Royalties and license fees; 

 Insurance services; 

 Financial services; and

 Telecommunications.

It is important to note that there is no way to 

determine an exact percentage of the trade in 

each of these categories that was actually 

delivered digitally, as the international trade 

statistics do not capture how services are 

provided. There are also other types of services 

that may be traded digitally, but the UN and 

BEA have chosen to exclude these services from 

analysis because their primary mode of delivery 

is not digital. We discuss these limitations in the 

Technical Appendix of this report.

This report uses the term “digitally-deliverable” 

rather than “digitally-enabled” to describe 

these five service categories. Because there are 

no data available that indicate whether these 

services were actually delivered digitally or by 

some other means, the term “digitallydeliverable” is intended to convey that these 

services may be delivered digitally. In particular, 

these service categories are the ones in which 

digital technologies present the most 

opportunity to transform the relationship 

between buyer and seller from the traditional 

in-person delivery mode to a digital one.
Page 6 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

Which Services are Included?

The cross-border trade in services categories discussed in this report and defined as digitallydeliverable include a wide array of services. To make these concepts more concrete, here are some 

examples of the kinds of services included in these categories.

Business, professional, and technical services: The largest category of digitally-deliverable services 

includes a large number of activities. Some of these activities, such as computer and information 

services, are inherently digital, although some computer products provided on a physical medium 

are classified as goods . Others, such as legal services or architectural services, are known to make 

intensive use of digital resources. Legal briefs and documents, consulting reports, and architectural 

or engineering designs can easily be digitized and transmitted over the Internet to customers 

located anywhere in the world. Advertising services are used throughout the digital world, whether 

by department stores, sports teams, or high-tech companies like Facebook and Google.

Royalties and license fees: This category covers charges for the use of intellectual property, such as 

patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial processes and designs, and franchises. Two-thirds of 

royalties and license fees are for industrial processes and for general use computer 

software. Improvements in digital communications have enabled easier sharing of schematics and 

designs across borders. The value associated with reproducing and disseminating copyrighted 

materials in digital form (including e-books, music, movies, and software) is included here if a U.S. 

company directly supplies the content to a foreign consumer or business, or vice versa.

Financial services: Banking is an increasingly digital activity. Whether customers are accessing 

information, managing their accounts, paying bills, or transferring funds, they are doing it online far 

more often. Investment activities, whether they are market research, financial planning tools, or 

buying and selling shares in the stock market or a mutual fund, are also increasingly being 

performed online and across borders.

Insurance services: Insurers are increasingly turning to digital networks for communication and the 

delivery of products. Digitized paper documents and e-delivery are growing in importance 

throughout the industry. As with banking services, customers are turning more and more to the 

digital transmission of premiums, and they are receiving payments for claims in the same manner. In 

addition, reinsurance—the purchase of insurance policies by another insurance company as a 

strategy for mitigating risk—involves transfers of funds and documents that may be conducted 

digitally.

Telecommunications: The telecommunications service category is arguably the most digital of the 

service categories studied in this report. Telephone calls, video conferences, e-mail, and voice mail 

are highly digitized activities. Internet access services are also included in this category.
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 7

United States Cross-Border Trade 

Data

Using these five service categories, we find that 

digitally-deliverable services accounted for over 

60 percent of U.S. service exports in 2011, and 

about 17 percent of overall U.S. goods and

services exports.6In dollar terms, U.S. 

exports of digitally-deliverable services 

totaled $357.4 billion, while imports totaled 

$221.9 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of 

$135.5 billion.7

 

6

For consistency with the input-output tables, Table 1 in 

this report excludes re-exports and presents a larger 

number (20 percent) for the digitally-deliverable share of 

total exports. Official statistics include re-exports and 

should be used wherever possible.

7

Cross-border trade data for 2012 were available at the 

time this report was written. However, to be consistent 

with the input-output data available, we opted to use 

2011 data.

Business, professional, and technical services 

accounted for the largest share of digitallydeliverable services exports (38 percent), 

followed by royalties and license fees (34 

percent), financial services (21 percent), 

insurance services (4 percent), and

telecommunications (4 percent) (see Figure 1). 

In 2011, 47 percent of digitally-deliverable 

services imports were business, 

professional, and technical services, 

followed by insurance services (26 percent), 

royalties and license fees (17 percent), 

financial services (7 percent), and 

telecommunications (3 percent).

Overall, the United States saw a $135.5 

billion digitally-deliverable trade surplus in 

2011. The only individual category that 

registered a deficit was insurance services.

-$75

-$50

-$25

$ 0

$25

$50

$75

$100

$125

$150

Net Surplus = $135.5

Surplus/deficit

Imports

Exports

Source: Economics and Statistics Administration analysis using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Figure 1. U.S. Trade in Digitally-Deliverable Services, 2011

(billions of dollars)

Telecommunications Business,

professional, and 

technical services

Royalties 

and 

license fees

Insurance

services

Financial 

services
Page 8 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

A New Understanding of Trade in 

Services

Trade in all services accounts for nearly 30 

percent of U.S. exports. On its own, this is a 

fairly large number, contributing over $600 

billion to U.S. gross domestic product in 2011. 

One thing this simple valuation overlooks, 

however, is the value of services as inputs

throughout the production process. Virtually 

any good that is exported requires services 

somewhere in its supply chain, whether those 

services are legal or business services, royalties 

or license fees, or even education or health care 

for production workers. Because such services 

are intermediate inputs, their value is absorbed 

into the final value of the good that is produced 

after the services are consumed. Simply adding 

up the services exported by the U.S. 

underestimates the true value of services to the 

Data Flows and Trade Policy

The Internet is a key platform for commerce between buyers and sellers located in different 

countries. As the Internet enables cross-border data flows, it also underpins much of global 

economic integration and international trade. For instance, cross-border data flows are now very 

common in business, from Internet-based communications like email and platforms such as eBay 

and Facebook that bring buyers and sellers together, to financial transactions to complete product 

purchases across borders, to the downloading of digital products and services. 

Major concerns for U.S. policymakers regarding the digital economy include protecting privacy and 

security (i.e., protection of personal and business data), promoting the free flow of information, and

avoiding localization requirements. Strong privacy and security safeguards protect the integrity of 

financial transactions and reassure consumers that their personal information will not be misused if 

they participate in digital commerce. Furthermore, well-conceived online security measures can help 

businesses protect the privacy of their employees, safeguard their assets , and maintain their 

competitive edge. In short, online commerce can thrive only if all users, whether buyers or sellers 

and regardless of nationality, trust that the system provides robust security and privacy protections.

Conversely, Internet-based trade is hindered by restrictions on data flows, such as limitations on 

data flows across national borders or other artificial restrictions. While some countries cite 

important privacy concerns as a basis for restricting data flows, such restrictions may be 

economically harmful and damage the free exchange of ideas, goods, and services online. While 

balanced and clear intellectual property policies promote the free flow of information as well as the 

rights of innovators, restrictions on the flow of information may be implemented in an unfair or 

nontransparent manner or may be more expansive than necessary. 

While localization requirements may serve some national goals, they can serve as disguised trade 

barriers when they unreasonably differentiate between domestic and foreign products or services. 

For example, as technologies increasingly rely on remote servers for data storage, access, and 

transfer, requirements that data must reside on local servers can increase costs by reducing

economies of scale. Policies that discriminate against foreign technologies or require use of countryspecific technology standards may reduce data security, interoperability, and the stability of the 

digital service. Localization requirements carry great risk of limiting the Internet’s global character, 

making cross-border trade difficult for large companies and practically impossible for small 

businesses that cannot afford to implement separate systems and standards in every country in 

which they do business. 
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 9

U.S. export economy.

One way to estimate the true value of services 

to U.S. exports is by using input-output (I-O) 

tables, which show the interdependencies 

between industries and commodities

throughout the economy and the production 

process. Using I-O tables, the Organisation for 

Economic Cooperation and Development 

(OECD) and the World Trade Organization 

(WTO) have conducted a study of Trade in 

Value Added (TiVA). According to their study, 

services as intermediate inputs accounted for 

nearly 50 percent of the value of exports from

the U.S. in 2009, a number that is substantially 

higher than the 30 percent accounted for by 

final service exports.8

 

8

See 

http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TIVA_OEC

D_WTO. The indicator SERV_VAGR—“Services value added 

To put this number into context, while final 

service exports are valued at over $600 billion, 

services may account for $1.1 trillion of export 

value throughout the entire production process.

To check the OECD and WTO numbers, we 

conducted a similar analysis using the I-O tables 

produced by BEA. In the end, we found that 

services as intermediate inputs accounted for a 

similar but slightly larger amount—57 percent—

of the value of exports in 2011 (see Figure 2).

 

embodied in gross exports by source country, as % of gross 

exports”—displays the relevant statistic.

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Source: Economics and Statistics Administration analysis using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis

Figure 2. U.S. Exports, 2002-2011

(billions of dollars, excluding re-exports)

Goods and Services

Digitally-Deliverable Services

Digitally-Deliverable Services Value Added in Exports

Services Value Added in Exports

Services
Page 10 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

The Value of Digitally-Deliverable 

Services as Intermediate Inputs

The TiVA project makes clear that simply 

measuring trade in services does not necessarily 

provide a clear picture of the value of services 

as intermediate inputs in the production of 

goods or even other services. Combining the 

methodology used by the TiVA project with our 

categories of digitally-deliverable services, we 

can take our understanding of digitallydeliverable services one step further. BEA’s I-O 

tables can be used to calculate the percentage 

of export value contributed by these services 

throughout the production process. The I-O 

tables use a different classification system than 

the cross-border trade in services data. Please 

refer to the Technical Appendix for the detailed 

industry concordance and a description of the 

methodology used for this calculation. 

Our findings are displayed in Table 1 and Figure 

2.9Recall that digitally-deliverable services 

 

9 We also performed a more fine-grained analysis using 

the 2002 benchmark I-O tables, which present industries 

at a much more detailed level than the annual tables. Our 

result—39.5 percent—was similar to the result of the 

annual analysis. BEA will release new benchmark I-O tables 

for 2007 and new annual tables for 2012 in December 

account for about one-fifth of total U.S. exports 

When considered as inputs in the production 

process, we find that the contribution of 

digitally-deliverable services jumps to more 

than one-third of the total value of U.S. exports.

Because we are unable to determine exactly 

what portion of output in each of these 

industries is actually delivered digitally, it is 

difficult to draw more specific conclusions 

about trends over time. For instance, the 

production and delivery processes in the 

newspaper publishing industry may be 

substantially or primarily digital today but were 

less so a decade ago. Our analysis, however, 

cannot distinguish between the newspaper 

industry of today and the newspaper industry of

ten years ago.

To provide some context about the increasing 

digitization of the industries in our study, we 

looked at data on revenues in some of the 

service industries and trends in the percentage

of revenues attributed to e-commerce (see 

Figure 3). E-commerce sales are not a 

comprehensive measure of the digitization of 

these industries. Some services may not be 

purchased digitally, but may be delivered

 

2013, at which point it will be possible to update this 

analysis.

Table 1. Digitally-Deliverable Services

Year

As a Percentage of Products in 

Exports†

As a Percentage of Value Added in 

Exports

2002 17.6% 34.5%

2003 18.0% 34.6%

2004 18.6% 33.5%

2005 18.5% 33.7%

2006 18.5% 33.4%

2007 19.4% 34.5%

2008 18.8% 33.5%

2009 21.8% 35.5%

2010 20.3% 34.5%

2011 19.5% 33.6%

Source: Economics and Statistics Administration analysis using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis

†

For consistency with the input-output tables, these percentages exclude re-exports.
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 11

digitally, and therefore, would not necessarily 

be captured here. 10 Data on e-commerce 

revenues, although limited, do support the 

claim that these services are becoming 

increasingly digitized.11

All of the industries for which data are 

available show positive trends in revenues 

 

10 The U.S. Census Bureau collects data on revenues in 

services industries in the Service Annual Survey. Data on ecommerce revenues are only available for limited years 

due to various factors, including changes in industry 

classification and changes to the scope of the survey. “Ecommerce” describes on-line transactions whether over 

open networks such as the Internet or proprietary 

networks running systems such as Electronic Data 

Interchange (EDI). 

http://www.census.gov/econ/estats/2011/all2011tables.h

tml and http://www.census.gov/econ/estats/about.html.

11 For a detailed discussion of the increasing use of digital 

technologies in these services, see “Digital Trade in the 

U.S. and Global Economies, Part 1.” United States 

International Trade Commission Publication 4415, July 

2013. Pages 3-7 through 3-24. Accessed online September 

9, 2013. http://usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4415.pdf.

attributed to e-commerce. These data are 

not conclusive evidence that all of the 

digitally-deliverable service industries 

included in our study are becoming 

increasingly digitally-delivered, nor are they 

a precise measure of the level of 

digitization in these service industries; 

however, these data do support the notion 

that the digital delivery of services is 

growing.

Even though data on the digitization of service 

exports are limited, there is no shortage of 

anecdotal evidence that an increased use of 

digitization is occurring in many of these 

industries. Media companies provide one 

example of this change. Newspapers (product 

of I-O industry 51110), book stores (product of 

I-O industry 511130), and music stores (product 

of I-O industry 512200) continue to shut down, 

while revenues from online media and 

entertainment continue to grow.
Page 12 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that 

revenues for these online services will 

increase by approximately 13 percent a 

year for the next five years. IFPI, a trade

group, reports that global music industry 

revenues-including both digital and nondigital revenues—grew by 0.3 percent in 

2012—the best result since 1998—due to 

the growth of digital music including 

download sales, subscription services, 

music video streaming, digital radio, 

performance rights, and sychronization.

12

Advertising and related services (I-O industry 

541800) provides another example of increased 

digitization. According to The Economist, firms 

that depended on print advertising have been 

the worst hit by digitization of these services, 

 

12“IFPI Digital Music Report 2012 Engine of a Digital 

World” Accessed online December 18, 2013. 

http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/DMR2013.pdf.

while advertising on the web grows in leaps 

and bounds.13 In 2012, online ads were worth 

$88 billion, or 18 percent of global advertising 

spending, up from 2006, when online ads 

composed just 7 percent of global spending.14

This share is expected to continue growing. 

Cross-Border Trade by Region and 

Service Category

To gain additional insight into how these 

service categories fit into our overall 

economy and trade policy, we can look at 

U.S. exports and imports by trading partner 

and by service category. To do this, we turn 

back to the BEA cross-border trade data. 

 

13 “Counting the Change.” The Economist, August 17, 

2013, page 53.

14 “Omnipotent, or omnishambles?” The Economist, 

August 3, 2012, page 53.
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 13

Regionally, the United States trades the 

greatest value of digitally-deliverable 

services with countries in Europe and the 

Asia and Pacific region (See Figure 4). 15,16 In 

2011, trade with Europe accounted for 45 

percent of the total value of both digitallydeliverable service exports and imports. 

This is down slightly from 2006 when this 

region accounted for 50 percent of exports 

and 51 percent of imports within these 

service categories.

The overall proportion of U.S. digitallydeliverable services exports and imports 

going to and coming from the Asia and 

 

15 Within the “Europe” category are separate estimates for 

Belgium-Luxembourg, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, 

Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United 

Kingdom, and an “Other” category covering the remainder 

of Europe.

16 Within the “Asia and Pacific” category are separate 

estimates for Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, 

Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New 

Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and an 

“Other” category covering the remainder of the region.

Pacific region has not significantly changed 

over the past five years—exports to this 

region accounted for 23 percent of all 

exports in this category in 2006 compared 

to 24 percent in 2011, while imports 

accounted for 20 percent of the U.S. total in 

2006 compared to 22 percent in 2011.

However, within this region, the countries 

with which the U.S. conducts digital trade 

have changed. While Japan remains a top 

U.S. trading partner in the region, trade of

digitally-deliverable services has increased 

with China and India. Trade of digitallydeliverable services with countries in South 

and Central America accounted for 9 

percent of all U.S. digitally-enabled services

exports and 4 percent of U.S. digitallydeliverable services imports in 2011. 17

 

17 Within the“South and Central America” category are 

separate estimates for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, 

Venezuela, and an “Other” category covering the 

remainder of the region.

Figure 5. U.S. Exports of Digitally-Deliverable Services by Service Category and Selected 

Economies of Origin, 2011

(millions of dollars)
Page 14 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

The top destination countries for U.S. 

exports of digitally-deliverable services are 

shown in Figure 5. Trade with the United 

Kingdom accounted for 10 percent of U.S. 

digitally-deliverable services exports in 

2011. The top six countries to which the 

U.S. exports these services did not change 

from 2006 to 2011, although their 

respective ranks did change. The biggest 

gainers were China and Brazil. In 2006, 

these countries ranked 14th and 18th, 

respectively, in the list of the largest export 

destinations for U.S. digitally-deliverable 

services. In 2011, however, these countries 

ranked 7th and 8th.

By category, the United States primarily 

exports business, professional, and 

technical services and royalties and license 

fees, as previously mentioned. The United 

States exports the greatest value of 

telecommunications services to Brazil (25 

percent) and the United Kingdom (15 

percent).

Turning to U.S. imports of digitallydeliverable services, from 2006 to 2011 the 

top ten U.S. trading partners did not 

change, although the rankings did shift 

within the top ten (See Figure 6). In 2011,

the U.S. imported $9.3 billion more in 

digitally-deliverable services from India 

than in 2006, moving the country from 9th

place to 5th, overtaking Japan, Germany, 

France, and Ireland. This $9.3 billion 

increase accounts for 12.5 percent of the 

increase in U.S. imports of digitallydeliverable services across all countries 

during this period. In the Western 

Hemisphere, outside of South and Central 

America and Canada, there was a 

considerable amount of U.S. trade in 

digitally-deliverable services.18 In 2011, this 

 

18 Within the “Other Western Hemisphere” category, 

Bermuda is the only country specifically broken out due to 

the higher volumes of trade that occur between Bermuda 

Figure 6. U.S. Imports of Digitally-Deliverable Services by Service Category and Selected 

Economies of Origin, 2011

(millions of dollars)
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 15

region accounted for 8 percent of all 

exports of this type from the U.S. and 17 

percent of all imports. In the insurance 

services category, this region played a large 

role in both U.S. exports and imports. In 

2011, Bermuda, which identifies itself as 

“the world’s risk capital,” was the recipient 

of 18 percent of U.S. exports and the source 

of 49 percent of U.S. imports of insurance 

services.19,20

Conclusion

Digitally-deliverable services are an 

important contributor to U.S. trade and 

help to improve the overall trade balance. 

When these services are considered as 

inputs throughout the production process, 

their value is even more apparent. Virtually 

no good or service is produced in the 

United States without input from one of the 

digitally-deliverable services studied in this 

report. Although we do not have precise 

data on the amount of these services that is 

actually delivered digitally, we do know that 

digital service delivery is becoming 

increasingly important. 

Even agriculture uses digital services—

ranchers are embedding sensors into cattle 

that transmit data on location and health—

and it is estimated that each cow generates 

200 megabits of data per year. Healthcare 

providers diagnose cataracts and skin 

disorders using pictures sent by patients via 

 

and the United States compared to other countries in the 

region.

19 http://www.bermuda-insurance.org/

20 See also: United States International Trade Commission. 

Property and Casualty Insurance Services: Competitive 

Conditions in Foreign Markets, Box 3.4 Bermuda’s 

International Insurance Industry. USITC Publication 4068. 

March 2009. Accessed online September 4, 2013.

http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4068.pdf.

mobile phone. 21 Cisco predicts that by 

2015, there will be 25 billion connected 

Internet devices—3.5 times the predicted 

world population.22 As people around the 

world become more connected, industries 

will continue to find ways to serve 

customers digitally. 

To fully understand how the U.S. economy 

is adapting to these changes and how to 

properly implement policies on 

international trade and other economic 

matters, the Federal government must 

continue to adapt and expand its statistics 

to capture these changes.

 

21 “The Next Wave of Digitization Setting Your Direction, 

Building Your Capabilities.” Booz & Company. Accessed 

online August 22, 2013. 

http://www.booz.com/media/uploads/BoozCo-NextWave-of-Digitization.pdf.

22 “The Internet of Things: How the Next Evolution of the 

Internet is Changing Everything.” Cisco White Paper. 

Accessed online December 12, 2013. 

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/innov/IoT_I

BSG_0411FINAL.pdf.
Page 16 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following for their contributions to this report:

Economics and Statistics Administration Sabrina Montes

Bureau of Economic Analysis Maria Borga

Gabriel Medeiros

Matthew Russell

Sally Thompson

We also appreciate helpful comments we have received from staff in the following agencies and groups:

Economics and Statistics Administration

Bureau of Economic Analysis

Internet Policy Task Force, Department of Commerce

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

United States Patent and Trademark Office

International Trade Administration

Office of Public Affairs, Department of Commerce

United States Trade Representative

Office of Science and Techology Policy, White House

The authors are economists in the Office of the Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s 

Economics and Statistics Administration.

Technical inquiries:

Office of the Chief Economist

(202) 482-3523

Media inquiries:

Office of Communications

(202) 482-3331

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

1401 Constitution Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20230

www.esa.doc.gov
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 17

Technical Appendix

Input-Output Analysis

This section describes the methodology used to 

calculate the value of digitally-deliverable 

services including inputs throughout the supply 

chain for the production process for these 

services. Because BEA’s service categories are 

not based on the industry codes used by Census 

and for the input-output (I-O) tables, we 

developed a concordance (see Table A-1) that 

matches the BEA categories to the I-O codes 

used in the annual I-O tables and the 2002 

benchmark I-O table. We also included the 2002 

North American Industrial Classification System 

(NAICS) industry codes that correspond to the 

cross-border trade in services categories and 

the I-O codes. Because the BEA service 

categories are broad, they capture several 

industries that are less likely to be highly 

digitally-deliverable—for example, 5621 (waste 

collection) and 8121 (personal care services), as 

well as many others. However, BEA does not 

have cross-border trade in services data at a 

finer level of detail. For consistency across data 

sources, we included all of these NAICS codes in 

our analysis. 

We used two of the annual I-O tables—the 

industry-by-commodity total requirements 

table and the use table—to calculate the 

percentage of export value contributed by 

digitally-deliverable services throughout the 

production process for the years 2002 through 

2011. 

The step-by-step process below describes how 

to use the I-O tables to calculate the percentage 

of U.S. export value contributed by digitallydeliverable services throughout the production 

process. This process was repeated using 

annual I-O tables for the years 2002 through 

2011.

1. For each row (industry) in the industry-bycommodity table, multiply each column 

entry (commodity) in the row by the 

corresponding row entry (commodity) in 

the exports column of the use table. Sum 

the results for each row (industry) in the 

industry-by-commodity table to obtain the 

gross output of each industry required to 

produce total U.S. goods and services 

exports. 

2. For each column (industry) in the use table, 

divide the entry for “Total Value Added” by 

“Total Industry Output” to obtain the share 

of value added to output for each industry.

3. For each industry, multiply the result 

obtained in step 1 by the result obtained in 

step 2 to obtain the export value added for 

each industry for the given year.

4. Using the results of step 3, locate the export 

value added for the digitally-deliverable 

service industries. The included industries 

have the following I-O codes: 511, 512, 513, 

514, 521CI, 523, 524, 525, 531, 532RL, 5411, 

5415, 5412OP, 55, 561, 562, 621, 622HO, 

624, 711AS, 713, and 81.

5. Sum the results of step 4 to obtain the total 

value added by digitally-deliverable services 

in the export supply chain. 

6. Divide the value of digitally-deliverable 

service inputs obtained in Step 5 by the sum 

of the value of total inputs obtained in step 

3 and multiply by 100. This is the 

percentage of export value contributed by 

digitally-deliverable services throughout the 

production process.

Sensitivity Analysis

As previously mentioned, and as the industry 

concordance shows, the limited number of BEA 

cross-border trade-in-services categories leads 

us to include in our analysis some NAICS 

industries that are less likely to be digitallydeliverable (having the potential or likelihood to 

be delivered digitally) or actually delivered 

digitally. Specifically, the business, professional, 

and technical services category includes several 

NAICS industries that are arguably not digitallydeliverable. In an attempt to understand how 
Page 18 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

the portion of exports attributed to digitallydeliverable services, including intermediate 

inputs, might change if we altered the mix of 

industries included in our analysis, we 

conducted a sensitivity analysis using the 2002 

benchmark I-O tables. The goal of the sensitivity 

analysis was to see how the inclusion or 

exclusion of various industries affected the 

overall proportion of exports attributable to 

digitally-deliverable services.

Using the 2002 I-O benchmark tables and the 

BEA cross-border trade categories, we found 

that digitally-deliverable services contributed 

39.5 percent of the value of all exports that 

year. Following the methodology described 

above, we calculated the percentage of export

value added by digitally-deliverable services for 

a subset of the industries included in the BEA 

categories. We developed two new sets of 

digitally-enabled services categories; Table A-2 

displays the I-O industries included in each of 

the three groupings: BEA, ESA 1, and ESA 2. For 

the two new groups, we removed I-O industries 

that, in our judgment, were unlikely to be highly 

digitally-deliverable. For example, it is hard to 

imagine digital delivery of services in the 

automotive equipment rental and leasing 

industry. The same is true for offices of 

physicians, dentists, and other health 

practitioners. It is important to emphasize that 

industries were included or not included based 

solely on our understanding of the services 

provided and our judgment as to whether or 

not the service can be delivered, and traded, 

digitally. Services that may be enhanced or 

improved by digital processes remain excluded 

if the ultimate delivery of the service to the 

customer is not performed digitally.

For ESA 2, we were stricter in our judgment and 

removed industries that we believe are unlikely 

to deliver a large portion of their services 

digitally. For example, although it is likely that 

industry 621B00 (medical and diagnostic labs 

and outpatient and other ambulatory care 

services) provides digital X-ray and other 

medical imaging services, it is more difficult to 

imagine outpatient and other ambulatory care 

services that can be provided digitally. For this 

reason, we included the industry in the ESA 1 

category but excluded it from the ESA 2 

category.

Industry 561500 (travel arrangement and 

reservation services) was not originally included 

in the BEA digitally-enabled services categories, 

but we have included it in both the ESA 1 and 

ESA 2 groups of digitally-deliverable services for 

the sensitivity analysis. In our judgment, the 

output of this particular industry, which is 

included in the travel category of BEA’s crossborder trade data, could be and very often is 

delivered digitally. According to the Census 

Bureau’s E-Stats report, 28 percent of revenues 

in this industry were from e-commerce sales in 

2011.23

In both of the industry groups we created for 

the sensitivity analysis, the share of exports 

accounted for by digitally-deliverable services is 

lower than in the industry group assembled by 

BEA (See Table A-3). In large part, this is due to 

the variety of industries included in business, 

professional, and technical services. Due to data 

limitations, BEA’s cross-border trade statistics 

cannot be broken down to a low enough level 

of detail to match the industries we selected 

from the I-O tables. 

 

23

http://www.census.gov/econ/estats/2011/all2011tables.h

tml, Table 3

Table A-3. Results of Sensitivity Analysis, 2002

Industry Group

Share of digitally-deliverable 

exports (including intermediate 

inputs)

BEA 39.5%

ESA 1 33.8%

ESA 2 20.7%

Source: Economics and Statistics Administration analysis 

of data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 19

Because the detailed, benchmark I-O tables are 

only available every five years and have a 

considerable time lag, it is not possible to 

perform this analysis on an annual basis. The 

results of this sensitivity analysis can serve as 

upper and lower bounds to the actual 

percentage of exports attributable to digitallydeliverable services. To maintain consistency 

with the UNCTAD definition for cross-country 

comparisons, however, the full business, 

professional, and technical services category 

may need to be included in any analysis of 

digitally-deliverable services.

Notes on Other Service Industries

Wholesale trade is not included in the digitallydeliverable services group because of the way 

trade in this service industry is measured. Crossborder wholesale trade margins are included in 

the value of goods trade, so they don’t appear 

in the cross-border trade in services data. One 

exception is if a wholesaler purchases a good 

from one country and sells it to another country 

with the good never entering the United States. 

In this situation, that wholesaler’s margin is 

included in merchanting services and is included 

in the BEA business, professional, and technical 

services category (as a trade-related service). As 

there is no way to parse out which portion of 

the wholesale trade industry’s exports are 

attributable to this service, it is excluded from 

our analysis.

Retail trade does not record any exports. 

Because cross-border trade data are 

collected at ports, wholesalers and truck 

services are typically the only parties 

involved in the transactions. Retailers are 

not present at the port and there is no 

retail price associated with exported items. 

As previously mentioned, any retail 

transaction costs associated with the 

exported digitally-deliverable services are 

included with the value of the exported 

service in the digitally-deliverable service 

category.
Page 20 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

BEA Trade in Services Category Input-Output Codes (Annual Table) Input-Output Codes (Benchmark Table) 2002 NAICS Codes

511110 Newspaper publishers

511120 Periodical publishers

511130 Book publishers

5111A0 Directory, mailing list, and other publishers

516100 Internet publishing and broadcasting 5161 Internet publishing and broadcasting

518100 Internet service providers and web search portals 5181 Internet service providers and web search portals

518200 Data processing, hosting, and related services 5182 Data processing, hosting, related services

519000 Other information services 5191 Other information services

5311 Lessors of real estate

5312 Offices of real estate agents and brokers

5313 Activities related to real estate

532100 Automotive equipment rental and leasing 5321 Automotive equipment rental and leasing

532230 Video tape and disc rental 5322 (part) Consumer goods rental

5322 (part) Consumer goods rental

5323 General rental centers

532400 Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing 5324 Commerical and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing

5411 Legal services 541100 Legal services 5411 Legal services

541200 Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services 5412 Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services

541300 Architectural, engineering, and related services 5413 Architectural, engineering, and related services

541400 Specialized design services 5414 Specialized design services

541610 Management, scientific, and technical consulting services

5416A0 Environmental and other technical consulting services

541700 Scientific research and development services 5417 Scientific research and development services

541800 Advertising and related services 5418 Advertising and related services

5419A0 All other miscellaneous professional, scientific, and technical services

541920 Photographic services

541940 Veterinary services

541511 Custom computer programming services

541512 Computer systems design services

54151A Other computer related services, including facilities management

55 Management of companies and enterprises 55000 Management of companies and enterprises 5511 Management of companies and enterprises

561100 Office administrative services 5611 Office administrative services

561200 Facilities support services 5612 Facilities support services

561300 Employment services 5613 Employment services

561400 Business support services 5614 Business support services

561600 Investigation and security services 5616 Investigation and security services

561700 Services to buildings and dwellings 5617 Services to buildings and dwellings

561900 Other support services 5619 Other support services

5621 Waste collection

5622 Waste treatment and disposal

5629 Remediation and other waste management services

6211 Office of physicians

6212 Offices of dentists

6213 Offices of other health practitioners

6214 Outpatient care centers

6215 Medical and diagnostic laboratories

6219 Other ambulatory health care services

621600 Home health care services 6216 Home health care services

6221 General medical and surgical hospitals

6222 Psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals

6223 Specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals

6231 Nursing care facilities

6232 Residential mental retardation, mental health and substance abuse facilities

6233 Community care facilities for the elderly

6239 Other residential care facilities

Business, professional, and technical services 

 (except construction)

*5615 Travel arrangement and reservation services are inlcuded in travel services which is not considered a digitally-deliverable service category

Source: Economics and Statistics Administration and the Bureau of Economic Analysis

621 Ambulatory health care services 621A00 Offices of physicians, dentists, and other health practitioners

621B00 Medical and diagnostic labs and outpatient and other ambulatory care services

622HO Hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities 622000 Hospitals

623000 Nursing and residential care facilities

562 Waste management and remediation services 562000 Waste management and remediation services

Table A-1. Industry Concordance of Digitally-Deliverable Services

511 (part) Publishing industries (includes software) 5111 Newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers

514 Information and data processing services

531 Real estate 531000 Real estate

532RL (part) Rental and leasing services and lessors of intangible assets

532A00 General and consumer goods rental except video tapes and discs

5412OP Miscellaneous professional, scientific, and technical services

5416 Management, scientific, and technical consulting services

5419 Other professional, scientific, and technical services

5415 Computer systems design and related services 5415 Computer systems design and related services

561 (part) Administrative and support services*
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 21

BEA Trade in Services Category Input-Output Codes (Annual Table) Input-Output Codes (Benchmark Table) 2002 NAICS Codes

624A00 Individual and family services 6241 Individual and family services

6242 Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services

6243 Vocational rehabilitation services

624400 Child day care services 6244 Child day care services

711100 Performing arts companies 7111 Performing arts companies

711200 Spectator sports 7112 Spectator sports

7113 Promoters of performing arts, sports, and similar events

7114 Agents and managers for artists, athletes, entertainers, and other public figures

711500 Independent artists, writers, and performers 7115 Independent artists, writers, and performers

712000 Museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks 7121 Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions

7131 Amusement parks and arcades

7132 Gambling industries

713B00 Other amusement and recreation industries

713940 Fitness and recreational sports centers

713950 Bowling centers

8111A0 Automotive repair and maintenance, except car washes

811192 Car washes

811200 Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance 8112 Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance

811300 Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment repair and maintenance 8113 Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment (except automotive and electronic) 

repair and maintenance

811400 Personal and household goods repair and maintenance 8114 Personal and houshold good repair and maintenance

812100 Personal care services 8121 Personal care services

812200 Death care services 8122 Death care services

812300 Dry-cleaning and laundry services 8123 Drycleaning and laundry services

812900 Other personal services 8129 Other personal services

813100 Religious organizations 8131 Religious organizations

8132 Grantmaking and giving services

8133 Social advocacy organizations

8134 Civic and social organizations

8139 Business, professional, labor, political, and similar organizations

814000 Private households 8141 Private households

511 (part) Publishing industries (includes software) 511200 Software publishers 5112 Software publishers

512100 Motion picture and video industries 5121 Motion picture and video industries

512200 Sound recording industries 5122 Sound recording industries

532RL (part) Rental and leasing services and lessors of intangible assets 533000 Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets 5331 Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works)

524100 Insurance carriers 5241 Insurance carriers

524200 Insurance agencies, brokerages, and related activities 5242 Agencies, brokerages, and other insurance related activities

5211 Monetary authorities - central bank

5221 Depository credit intermediation

5222 Nondepository credit intermediation

5223 Activities related to credit intermediation

5231 Securities and commodity contracts intermediation and brokerage

5232 Securities and commodity exchanges

5239 Other financial investment activities

5251 Insurance and employee benefit funds

5259 Other investment pools and funds

515100 Radio and television broadcasting 5151 Radio and television broadcasting

515200 Cable and other subscription programming 5152 Cable and other subscription programming

5171 Wired telecommunications carriers

5172 Wireless telecommunications carriers (except satellite)

5173 Telecommunications resellers

5174 Satellite telecommunications

5175 Cable and other program distribution

5179 Other telecommunications

Business, professional, and technical services 

 (except construction) (continued)

Telecommunications 513 Broadcasting and telecommunications

517000 Telecommunications

Table A-1. Industry Concordance of Digitally-Deliverable Services (continued)

Insurance services 524 Insurance carriers and related activities

Financial services 521CI Federal Reserve banks, credit intermediation, and related activities 52A000 Monetary authorities and depository credit intermediation

522A00 Nondepository credit intermediation and related activities

523 Securities, commodity contracts, and investments 523000 Securities, commodity contracts, investments, and related activities

525 Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles 525000 Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles

8111 Automotive repair and maintenance

813A00 Grantmaking, giving, and social advocacy organizations

813B00 Civic, social, professional, and similar organizations

Source: Economics and Statistics Administration and the Bureau of Economic Analysis

Royalties and license fees

512 Motion picture and sound recording industries

624 Social assistance

624200 Community food, housing, and other relief services, including rehabilitation services

711AS Performing arts, spectator sports, museums, and related activities

711A00 Promoters of performing arts and sports and agents for public figures

713 Amusements, gambling, and recreation industries 713A00 Amusement parks, arcades, and gambling industries

7139 Other amusement and recreation industries

81 Other services, except government
Page 22 U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration 

BEA Trade in Services Category BEA ESA 1 ESA 2

511110 Newspaper publishers   

511120 Periodical publishers   

511130 Book publishers   

5111A0 Directory, mailing list, and other publishers   

516110 Internet publishing and broadcasting   

518100 Internet service providers and web search portals   

518200 Data processing, hosting, and related services   

519100 Other information services   

531000 Real estate 

532100 Automotive equipment rental and leasing 

532230 Video tape and disc rental   

532A00 General and consumer goods rental except video tapes and discs 

532400 Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing 

541100 Legal services  

541200 Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services  

541300 Architectural, engineering, and related services  

541400 Specialized design services  

541511 Custom computer programming services   

541512 Computer systems design services   

54151A Other computer related services, including facilities management   

541610 Management, scientific, and technical consulting services   

5416A0 Environmental and other technical consulting services   

541700 Scientific research and development services   

541800 Advertising and related services  

5419A0 All other miscellaneous professional, scientific, and technical services  

541920 Photographic services   

541940 Veterinary services 

550000 Management of companies and enterprises  

561100 Office administrative services   

561200 Facilities support services 

561300 Employment services  

561400 Business support services   

561600 Investigation and security services 

561700 Services to buildings and dwellings 

561900 Other support services 

562000 Waste management and remediation services 

621A00 Offices of physicians, dentists, and other health practitioners 

621B00 Medical and diagnostic labs and outpatient and other ambulatory care services  

621600 Home health care services 

622000 Hospitals 

623000 Nursing and residential care facilities 

624A00 Individual and family services 

624200 Community food, housing, and other relief services, including rehabilitation services 

624400 Child day care services 

711100 Performing arts companies 

711200 Spectator sports 

711A00 Promoters of performing arts and sports and agents for public figures  

711500 Independent artists, writers, and performers 

712000 Museums, historical sites, zoos, and parks 

713A00 Amusement parks, arcades, and gambling industries 

713B00 Other amusement and recreation industries 

713940 Fitness and recreational sports centers 

713950 Bowling centers 

8111A0 Automotive repair and maintenance, except car washes 

811192 Car washes 

811200 Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance 

811300 Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment repair and maintenance 

811400 Personal and household goods repair and maintenance 

812100 Personal care services 

812200 Death care services 

812300 Dry-cleaning and laundry services 

812900 Other personal services 

813100 Religious organizations 

813A00 Grantmaking, giving and social advocacy organizations  

813B00 Civic, social, professional, and similar organizations 

814000 Private households 

511200 Software publishers   

512100 Motion picture and video industries   

512200 Sound recording industries   

533000 Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets   

I-O Industry Code and Title

Table A-2: Digitally-Deliverable Service Industries for Sensitivity Analysis

Business, professional, and 

technical services (except 

construction)

Royalties and license fees
U. S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration Page 23

524100 Insurance carriers   

524200 Insurance agencies, brokerages, and related activities   

52A000 Monetary authorities and depository credit intermediation   

522A00 Nondepository credit intermediation and related activities   

523000 Securities, commodity contracts, investments, and related activities   

525000 Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles   

515100 Radio and television broadcasting   

515200 Cable and other subscription programming   

517000 Telecommunications   

Travel* 561500 Travel arrangement and reservation services  

*Other I-O Codes are included in the the travel category, but are not listed here since they are not included in our analysis.

Financial services

Telecommunications

Insurance services

Table A-2: Digitally-Deliverable Service Industries for Sensitivity Analysis (continued)