Samoa - Commercial service exports (current US$)

The value for Commercial service exports (current US$) in Samoa was 78,224,580 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 43 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 286,217,300 in 2019 and a minimum value of 2,417,065 in 1977.

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
1977 2,417,065
1978 3,911,275
1979 3,631,265
1980 7,560,046
1981 6,411,465
1982 7,247,382
1983 8,424,079
1984 7,995,465
1985 9,802,815
1986 12,698,140
1987 15,694,600
1988 25,912,830
1989 29,508,520
1990 33,945,900
1991 26,754,210
1992 33,317,000
1993 32,605,270
1994 39,652,280
1995 52,943,230
1996 61,827,500
1997 58,705,820
1998 57,757,150
1999 42,712,750
2004 93,921,260
2005 129,233,400
2006 138,213,100
2007 167,370,800
2008 168,356,900
2009 162,054,600
2010 181,092,600
2011 183,757,600
2012 190,436,000
2013 206,197,400
2014 198,427,700
2015 197,630,000
2016 211,994,200
2017 241,050,400
2018 258,794,500
2019 286,217,300
2020 78,224,580

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