Switzerland - Commercial service exports (current US$)

The value for Commercial service exports (current US$) in Switzerland was 114,650,000,000 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 43 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 135,615,000,000 in 2018 and a minimum value of 4,289,160,000 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 4,289,160,000
1978 5,436,409,000
1979 5,956,770,000
1980 6,887,693,000
1981 6,816,459,000
1982 6,979,318,000
1983 8,230,030,000
1984 8,151,737,000
1985 8,817,215,000
1986 12,029,460,000
1987 15,218,030,000
1988 16,113,580,000
1989 14,738,630,000
1990 17,600,870,000
1991 18,504,360,000
1992 19,935,100,000
1993 20,373,420,000
1994 21,370,230,000
1995 24,301,860,000
1996 24,625,210,000
1997 23,611,660,000
1998 25,171,030,000
1999 27,720,590,000
2000 45,654,900,000
2001 43,393,060,000
2002 46,035,320,000
2003 52,583,490,000
2004 61,597,860,000
2005 67,454,870,000
2006 72,431,580,000
2007 86,863,610,000
2008 98,773,020,000
2009 94,656,300,000
2010 98,198,950,000
2011 112,383,000,000
2012 116,891,000,000
2013 118,688,000,000
2014 127,714,000,000
2015 121,528,000,000
2016 123,938,000,000
2017 125,389,000,000
2018 135,615,000,000
2019 131,015,000,000
2020 114,650,000,000

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