The Manual sets out an internationally agreed framework for the compilation and reporting of statistics on international trade in services in the broad sense. It addresses the growing need, including in international trade negotiations and agreements, for more detailed, comparable, and comprehensive statistics on this type of trade in its various forms. The recommendations will enable countries to progressively expand and structure the information they compile in an internationally comparable way. The Manual conforms with and explicitly relates to the System of National Accounts 1993 and the fifth edition of the IMF’s Balance of Payments Manual. It is published jointly by the United Nations, European Union, IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, and World Trade Organization.

This title provides a comprehensive introduction to the key issues in trade and liberalization of services. Providing a useful overview of the players involved, the barriers to trade, and case studies in a number of service industries, this is ideal for policymakers and students interested in trade.

Quantitative measures of international exchange have historically focused on trade in tangible products or capital. However, services have recently become a larger portion of developed economies and international trade, and will only increase in the future. In International Trade in Services and Intangibles in the Era of Globalization, Marshall Reinsdorf and Matthew J. Slaughter examine new and emerging patterns of trade, especially the growing importance of transactions involving services or intangible assets such as intellectual property. A distinguished team of contributors analyzes the challenges involved in measuring trade in intangibles, the comparative advantages enjoyed by United States service industries, and the heightened international competition for jobs, capital investment, economic growth, and tax revenue that results from trade in services. This comprehensive volume will be necessary reading for scholars seeking to understand the rapidly changing global economy.

This edition provides a comprehensive methodological framework for collection and compilation of international merchandise trade statistics in all countries, irrespective of the level of development of their statistical system. The conceptual framework reflects both the multipurpose nature of these statistics and concern for availability of the adequate data sources and data compilation procedures. It is intended primarily for the producers of international trade statistics, particularly the staff of national statistical offices and/or customs involved in the collection and compilation of merchandise trade statistics, but may be also useful to researchers and other users interested in better understanding the nature of trade statistics.

This publication contains updated recommendations on methodology for compiling international merchandise trade statistics adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission in March 1997. These recommendations are an essential references for trade statistics analysis and understanding. They take into account new developments in international trade, national practices of data compilation, new international agreements regarding customs procedures, and previously adopted revisions of methodology of national accounting and balance of payments statistics. They address basic issues such as coverage of statistics and time of recording, trade system, commodity classifications, valuation, quantity measurement, partner country, and reporting and dissemination. The publication also contains detailed lists of goods to be included and excluded from imports and exports; two tables which make it possible to determine, at a glance, how various categories of goods are treated in both the general and the special trade systems; and linkages between statistical concepts and international conventions regarding trade matters.

Trade flows and trade policies need to be properly quantified to describe, compare, or follow the evolution of policies between sectors or countries or over time. This is essential to ensure that policy choices are made with an appropriate knowledge of the real conditions. This practical guide introduces the main techniques of trade and trade policy data analysis. It shows how to develop the main indexes used to analyze trade flows, tariff structures, and non-tariff measures. It presents the databases needed to construct these indexes as well as the challenges faced in collecting and processing these data, such as measurement errors or aggregation bias. Written by experts with practical experience in the field, A Practical Guide to Trade Policy Analysis has been developed to contribute to enhance developing countries' capacity to analyze and implement trade policy. It offers a hands-on introduction on how to estimate the distributional effects of trade policies on welfare, in particular on inequality and poverty. The guide is aimed at government experts engaged in trade negotiations, as well as students and researchers involved in trade-related study or research. An accompanying DVD contains data sets and program command files required for the exercises. Copublished by the WTO and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

International Trade Statistics 2015 provides a detailed overview of the latest developments in world trade, covering both merchandise and services trade as well as trade measured in value-added terms. A key developments section at the start of each chapter uses charts and maps to illustrate the most important trends. More detailed data are provided in a variety of tables covering specific aspects of world trade up to the end of 2014. A chapter on methodology explains how the data are compiled. International Trade Statistics 2015 serves as an invaluable reference tool for researchers, policymakers, and anyone interested in international trade.