Overall, therefore, as a share of total digital services trade (i.e. also including trade covered by countries with different data models), these numbers tell that, for the component of cross-border data transfers, around 42 percent is governed by the conditional transfers model, around 11 percent by the open transfers model, and only less than 1 percent by the limited transfers model. Considering rules on the domestic processing of data, a share of 42 percent is governed by the conditional processing model, only about 2 percent of trade is among country pairs applying the open processing model, and a similar share of 2 percent is based on the limited processing model.

Bilateral digital services trade is on average higher among country-pairs sharing the open data model for cross-border data transfers, with an average value of 3284 Mln. USD. Countries sharing the conditional transfers model have an average bilateral digital services trade value which is significantly lower (1067 Mln. USD), whereas the average trade value for countries following the limited model is the lowest (911 Mln. USD). The high value for the open model is naturally explained by the size of the US, which is at the centre of all trade that is covered by this model. When using trade per capita as a measure, the conditional model emerges as the one with the highest average value of digital services followed by the open model, and then the limited model. This ranking is explained by the fact that many countries adhering to the conditional model are smaller economies.<sup>14</sup> These differences also become visible by plotting the distribution of the services trade data by data model, as done in Figure A2. It adopts the log of bilateral digital trade. The differences in the average values between the open model and conditional model becomes clearly visible: countries sharing the open model for cross-border transfers of data have a higher average of total digital services trade. But when expressing values on a per capita basis, countries sharing the conditional model shows the highest trade numbers.

# **3.3.2 Top 10 country-pairs for digital services trade for each data model**

Table 2 shows the Top 10 biggest country-pairs for digital services trade for each data model. The largest bilateral traders in digital services are the ones that follow the open data model in which the US is often one partner country. The 10 biggest country-pairs having the open data model in place cover a share of around 8 percent of global digital services trade. The US and Canada share the biggest trade relationship, followed by the US and Mexico. On top of countries in North America, many countries with high digital trade links that share the open model are located in Asia (such as Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong) or involve Australia and New Zealand. The country-pairs sharing this model without the US as a partner country, but with also relatively high trade values, are Mexico-Canada, followed by Australia-New Zealand.

The Top 10 country-pairs that share the conditional model represent a share of 5 percent in global digital services trade. The two countries that trade most digital services with each other are the UK and Germany, which however only represent around a quarter of digital services trade between the US and Canada. All other top country-pairs sharing this model are found in the EU, except the pair Switzerland-Germany. The list of European country-pairs in the Top 10 is fairly concentrated around Germany and the UK, followed by France. The country-pair with the highest digital services trade not

> 14 Note that per capita numbers include intra-EU trade, too. Given that many EU countries are smaller in economic size, the per capita services trade figures naturally increase compared to the numbers involving the US and China, which are the main economies implementing the other two data models.

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