The growing use of services across all sectors means they should also be viewed as critical for goods exports, a report from the United Nation’s trade and development arm has said.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) found that industries across the board are increasingly embedding services in their products, even if they traditionally export physical goods.
Business models are also changing, as firms look to “bundle services with their products” or move to sell services for goods, such as maintenance contracts.
Services increased their overall share of global exports by four percentage points to 27% between 2015 and 2025.
Over the past decade, services exports have also grown faster than goods exports, rising by around 6.7% each year. In 2025, services exports increased by 8.3%.
This has been driven in part by digitally deliverable services, which UNCTAD said is “the fastest-growing segment of global trade”. These include services that can be “delivered remotely over computer networks”, such as financial and insurance services.
The role played by intangible economic activities means that they now “should be viewed not only as a sector in their own right but also as critical inputs into the production and export of goods”, UNCTAD said.
“The quality, cost and availability of services directly affect competitiveness and participation in global value chains across all sectors.”
Yet developing economies have not benefitted equally, with services exports for these countries growing by just 3% annually.
The report said that “poor connectivity, costly cross-border payments and skills gaps”, as well as a lack of data to assess the impact of services within trade overall, are all barriers facing developing economies.
Developing economies have a far lower share of digitally deliverable services, accounting for just 16% of total services exports compared to developed economies, which have a share of 61% in 2024.
This is due not only to weaker connectivity, but also “diverging export structures”, as developing countries rely on “traditional services such as transport and travel,” rather than digital services, the report said.
AI may also widen the divide between countries, it added, with less than a third of developing countries having so far adopted national AI strategies.
UNCTAD also noted that multilateral rules have not kept up with digital trade, and regional and bilateral agreements have led to greater regulatory complexity.
“Developing countries need better data, stronger digital infrastructure and greater capacity to shape emerging rules,” it said.
“Realising the development potential of services trade will require action on three fronts: better data, stronger digital foundations, and more inclusive international co-operation.”
Participants in a recent GTR roundtable held in Singapore discussed why services trade may be the market’s next major opportunity.
One banker described services trade as “one area that’s really growing, and one area that most banks are underestimating the potential for business”.
Earlier this year, UNCTAD found that merchandise trade growth is expected to fall by as many as 3.2 percentage points in 2026 compared to last year.
This was down to trade uncertainty and geopolitical tensions weighing on supply chains, shipping and investment decisions, researchers said.
