# Services Sector Export in Europe
## 1 Introduction  
The results of some previous research [1; 2] show that there is currently a macroeconomic shift towards services. The services sector is the most rapidly growing sector of the world economy, and the export of services is becoming an increasingly important component in a country's export portfolio [3; 4; 5; 6]. According to the findings of [PERSON] et al. [6], which they obtained by analyzing data on the export structure of 192 countries, the share of services in 2014 constituted more than 20 per cent of total exports, while in 1970 it was only about 9 per cent. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) [7], the share of services exports, out of the total number of exports of goods and services had increased from 24 per cent in 2005 to 28 per cent in 2016 in developed economies, and from 14 to 17 per cent in developing economies. The findings of the global research carried out by UNCTAD [8] indicate that only during the last decade, service exports, for developed countries, began showing a strong and increasing impact on the overall GDP growth. Furthermore, the correlation analysis [8] also shows that service exports have a positive impact on GDP growth in developing countries. Previous research, based on the analysis of data from 125 countries, also discovered statistically significant relations between service exports and GDP per capita for 2007 [9]. According to UNCTAD [7], service exports have been more resilient than goods exports. Following [PERSON] et al. [6], Europe is still leading in the export of services. Five European countries belong to the top ten service exporters in the world. United Kingdom, Germany and France possess the second,third and fourth places, and the Netherlands possesses sixth place in terms of the volume of service exports [6]. The existing scientific literature [9; 10] shows that the service exports in European countries is much more sustainable to economic crises than the export of goods. However, these conclusions were only made based on the data from two European countries (Lithuania and Belgium), not the whole population of European countries. Though European countries have a dominating position in terms of service exports, the existing literature has not yet answered the following research questions: What is the share of service exports in the general volume of exports from European countries? What are the dynamics of the growth of service exports in general, compared to the growth of goods exports? Do service exports grow faster that goods export in all European countries? Have service exports grown faster than goods exports in European countries with the higher (or lower) level of economic development, GDP level and GDP per capita level? Is there any correlation between the growth of service exports, GDP and GDP per capita? In the scientific literature we have also not found the answer to the question of whether service exports, especially services based on innovation technologies provide the exporting countries higher rates of service exports. In our study, we attempt to answer these questions. In order to fill this gap in the knowledge base, we use an analysis of statistical data on thirty-eight European countries to answer the research question of this study. In order to answer the research questions, we set the following tasks:  
1. To conduct an analysis of service export growth rates in Europe. 2. To determine the differences in the changes in service export growth rates in European countries with different levels of economic development. 3. To identify the relationship of growth in GDP and GDP per capita rates on service export growth. 4. To conduct an analysis of changes in the share of service exports for different groups of countries in Europe. 5. To establish whether the leaders in service export growth are innovation leaders, to determine the variance of service export growth in 2016 compared to 2005 depending on the level of innovative development of the country. 6.