Malaysia - Travel services (% of commercial service exports)

The value for Travel services (% of commercial service exports) in Malaysia was 0.46 as of 2021. As the graph below shows, over the past 47 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 55.92 in 2009 and a minimum value of 0.46 in 2021.

Definition: Travel services (% of commercial service exports) covers goods and services acquired from an economy by travelers in that economy for their own use during visits of less than one year for business or personal purposes. Travel services include the goods and services consumed by travelers, such as lodging and meals and transport (within the economy visited).

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

See also:

Year Value
1974 44.81
1975 41.45
1976 40.61
1977 38.79
1978 35.42
1979 33.66
1980 30.33
1981 31.58
1982 35.02
1983 32.77
1984 33.33
1985 33.90
1986 34.13
1987 32.88
1988 33.73
1989 37.29
1990 44.67
1991 41.62
1992 41.55
1993 34.80
1994 36.60
1995 34.70
1996 29.91
1997 24.03
1998 20.88
1999 29.96
2000 36.01
2001 47.51
2002 48.12
2003 43.64
2004 47.69
2005 45.05
2006 49.72
2007 48.47
2008 49.79
2009 55.92
2010 52.48
2011 50.71
2012 50.00
2013 51.18
2014 53.85
2015 50.70
2016 50.93
2017 49.66
2018 48.83
2019 48.36
2020 13.66
2021 0.46

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: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Private Sector & Trade Indicators

Sub-Topic: Exports