Belize - Commercial service imports (current US$)

The value for Commercial service imports (current US$) in Belize was 155,057,300 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 36 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 219,301,300 in 2018 and a minimum value of 26,450,000 in 1985.

Definition: Commercial service imports are total service imports minus imports 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
1984 28,200,000
1985 26,450,000
1986 29,900,000
1987 33,350,000
1988 41,350,000
1989 50,100,000
1990 53,750,000
1991 58,500,000
1992 71,000,000
1993 82,400,000
1994 85,895,000
1995 88,449,500
1996 87,695,000
1997 87,400,000
1998 93,800,000
1999 99,065,790
2000 115,664,700
2001 110,653,600
2002 121,418,500
2003 127,327,300
2004 138,926,400
2005 147,192,100
2006 143,303,700
2007 158,999,700
2008 160,873,100
2009 153,543,500
2010 153,585,100
2011 162,348,200
2012 177,366,000
2013 195,389,700
2014 212,618,000
2015 206,876,700
2016 201,778,700
2017 216,416,000
2018 219,301,300
2019 219,009,300
2020 155,057,300

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: Imports