Eswatini - Commercial service exports (current US$)

The value for Commercial service exports (current US$) in Eswatini was 66,260,310 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 46 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 485,854,800 in 2007 and a minimum value of 12,535,000 in 1978.

Definition: Commercial service exports are total service exports minus exports of government services not included elsewhere. International transactions in services are defined by the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (1993) as the economic output of intangible commodities that may be produced, transferred, and consumed at the same time. Definitions may vary among reporting economies.

Source: International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files.

See also:

Year Value
1974 20,309,740
1975 21,365,560
1976 22,080,000
1977 24,610,000
1978 12,535,000
1979 22,208,430
1980 31,970,880
1981 37,945,300
1982 29,102,540
1983 37,160,040
1984 39,517,990
1985 23,556,600
1986 25,268,800
1987 48,378,380
1988 60,744,220
1989 87,429,740
1990 101,842,800
1991 85,466,530
1992 94,424,500
1993 86,481,440
1994 109,579,900
1995 149,348,900
1996 98,009,950
1997 89,697,580
1998 86,739,570
1999 51,371,770
2000 270,559,300
2001 111,744,100
2002 89,848,020
2003 200,012,800
2004 175,167,000
2005 193,290,000
2006 268,074,700
2007 485,854,800
2008 252,280,200
2009 201,576,700
2010 250,354,400
2011 78,808,950
2012 106,746,900
2013 24,353,870
2014 79,316,840
2015 67,412,300
2016 54,281,570
2017 118,715,800
2018 66,568,280
2019 85,993,200
2020 66,260,310

Development Relevance: Trade in services differs from trade in goods because services are produced and consumed at the same time. Thus services to a traveler may be consumed in the producing country (for example, use of a hotel room) but are classified as imports of the traveler's country. In other cases services may be supplied from a remote location; for example, insurance services may be supplied from one location and consumed in another.

Limitations and Exceptions: Balance of payments statistics, the main source of information on international trade in services, have many weaknesses. Disaggregation of important components may be limited and varies considerably across countries. There are inconsistencies in the methods used to report items. And the recording of major flows as net items is common (for example, insurance transactions are often recorded as premiums less claims). These factors contribute to a downward bias in the value of the service trade reported in the balance of payments. Efforts are being made to improve the coverage, quality, and consistency of these data. Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, for example, are working together to improve the collection of statistics on trade in services in member countries. Still, difficulties in capturing all the dimensions of international trade in services mean that the record is likely to remain incomplete. Cross-border intrafirm service transactions, which are usually not captured in the balance of payments, have increased in recent years. An example is transnational corporations' use of mainframe computers around the clock for data processing, exploiting time zone differences between their home country and the host countries of their affiliates. Another important dimension of service trade not captured by conventional balance of payments statistics is establishment trade - sales in the host country by foreign affiliates. By contrast, cross-border intrafirm transactions in merchandise may be reported as exports or imports in the balance of payments.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The balance of payments (BoP) is a double-entry accounting system that shows all flows of goods and services into and out of an economy; all transfers that are the counterpart of real resources or financial claims provided to or by the rest of the world without a quid pro quo, such as donations and grants; and all changes in residents' claims on and liabilities to nonresidents that arise from economic transactions. All transactions are recorded twice - once as a credit and once as a debit. In principle the net balance should be zero, but in practice the accounts often do not balance, requiring inclusion of a balancing item, net errors and omissions. The concepts and definitions underlying the data are based on the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6). Balance of payments data for 2005 onward will be presented in accord with the BPM6. The historical BPM5 data series will end with data for 2008, which can be accessed through the World Development Indicators archives. The complete balance of payments methodology can be accessed through the International Monetary Fund website (www.imf.org/external/np/sta/bop/bop.htm).

Aggregation method: Gap-filled total

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Private Sector & Trade Indicators

Sub-Topic: Exports