Gabon - Commercial service exports (current US$)

The value for Commercial service exports (current US$) in Gabon was 273,340,300 as of 2015. As the graph below shows, over the past 37 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 423,227,500 in 2010 and a minimum value of 67,331,130 in 2002.

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
1978 166,979,900
1979 181,175,700
1980 293,923,400
1981 289,293,000
1982 151,731,700
1983 181,989,500
1984 122,117,400
1985 118,928,100
1986 102,972,500
1987 86,678,300
1988 181,938,300
1989 266,011,900
1990 214,056,300
1991 291,024,400
1992 312,061,100
1993 285,701,600
1994 199,566,000
1995 190,530,500
1996 204,565,500
1997 203,596,400
1998 192,654,700
1999 248,262,500
2000 169,740,200
2001 143,306,300
2002 67,331,130
2003 161,870,200
2004 133,871,000
2005 119,518,100
2007 168,394,700
2008 108,839,900
2009 191,168,500
2010 423,227,500
2011 280,670,300
2012 263,813,600
2013 264,035,300
2014 142,285,300
2015 273,340,300

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: Exports