Australia’s practice of management, analysis

and utilization of trade in services statistics.

Nic BrownAssistant Secretary

Trade and Economic Analysis BranchAustralian Department of Foreign Affairs

and TradeNovember 2007

Australia’s trade in services – an overview

0

10

20

30

40

50

%

Ireland

India

UK

New Z

ealand

OECD

USA

Austra

lia

Indo

nesia

Italy

Fran

ce

J apa

n

Korea

Ger

man

y

Canad

a

China

Ratio of services trade to total trade Selected countries – 2006 (a)

Source: IMF IFS Statistics & OECD(a) 2005 data for India, Indonesia and OECD

4.9

5.86.5

7.6

10.0

8.6

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

%

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2006

Australia’s services trade ratio to GDP

Includes services for the Sydney Olympic Games

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Impact of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games

0

1

2

3

4

5

Jul-00 Aug-00 Sep-00 Oct-00 Nov-00 Dec-00

A$b

Treatment of the Games

Game effect Treatment in BoP

Olympic tickets used by overseas visitors to non-residents Travel credits

Other expenditure in Australia of Olympic athletes and other overseas visitors Travel credits

Delivery of TV broadcasts to right holders Audio visual credits

SOCOG payments to IOC Royalties and licence fee debits

Receipt by SOCOG of sponsorship payments from non-residents Royalties and licence fee credits

Airfares earned by resident carriers from overseas visitors coming to the Games Passenger services credits

Other services acquired by SOCOG from non-residents Relevant services group

SOCOG - Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee Credits - exports

IOC - International Olympic Committee Debits - imports

Exports

Imports

Australia’s services trade 2006

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Travel54.5%

Other personal24.8%

Education-related24.4%

Business5.3%

Transportation19.0%

Business and other 26.5%

Transportation35.0%

Business and other29.2% Education-related

1.8%

Other personal28.2%

Travel35.9%

Business5.9%

USA13%

UK10%

Other EU9%

China8%

J apan7%

Korea4%

Singapore6%

Other ASEAN8%

New Zealand7%

Other (incl confidential)

28%

Australia’s exports of services by major market - 2006

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

USA17%

UK9%

Other EU14%

China3%

J apan5%

Hong Kong4%

Singapore10%

Other ASEAN8%

New Zealand5%

Other (incl confidential)

25%

Australia’s imports of services by major source - 2006

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Statistical framework for Australian trade in services

statistics

History of collecting Australian services statistics

• Compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

• Integral part of BOP and National Accounts Statistics

• Collected from banking statistics up to the 1970s– Only broad aggregates produced

• From 1980s sourced from business surveys and other ‘administrative’ data– Range of data collected expanded to meet

users needs

Conceptual framework

• IMF Balance of Payments Manual version 5 (BPM5)

• Resident/non-resident transactions– Does not cover foreign affiliates trade (Mode 3)

• Services valued at market price• Services include some transactions in

goods, – Travel expenditure by visitors and students

and government personnel (including defence)– Packaged software included in goods

Trade in services statistics - Beyond the BOP framework

• The United Nations has published the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services, 2002

• Four GATS modes of supply

Modes of supply

• Four modes of supply– Mode 1 Cross border supply– Mode 2 Consumption abroad– Mode 3 Commercial presence – Mode 4 Movement of natural persons

• Data by country, by mode of supply by detail services activity

Data sources

• ABS Survey of International Trade in Services (SITS)– Stratified sample survey– Conducted quarterly– Maintaining coverage is an issue

Data sources continued

• Administrative data– Merchandise trade data– Overseas arrivals and departures data– Student visa data– Survey of International Students– International and National Visitors

Survey– Australia Prudential Regulatory Authority

(APRA) financial and insurance data

ABS Extended BOP classification

• Extended services classification – 11 major groups – 60+ detailed services commodities

• Because of confidentiality, the level of detail for most countries will only be up to the 11 major groups

  Collected Published

    AustraliaBy partner

Country (a)

       

Transportation 9 3 1

Travel 3 3 3

Communications 6 2 1

Construction 1 1 1

Insurance 5 5 1

Financial 1 1 1

Computer & information 5 5 1

Royalties & licence fees 6 6 1

Other business 20 20 1

Personal, cultural & recreation 12 11 1

Government 1 1 1

       

Total 69 58 13

(a) some additional services activity data is available for significant trade partners

User needs for Australian trade in services statistics

Unmet user demand

• Trade in services data to support trade negotiations (modes of supply)– Monitor finalised trade agreements– WTO dispute settlement procedures,

ESM and rule on services disciplines• Services industries bodies

– To promote services trade – Identify barriers to services trade

ABS ITSUG

• International Trade in Services User Group– Government and industry

representation• Forum to discuss trade in services

statistics– User needs– Methodology and data sources– Expertise in particular service fields

Future directions and challenges

• Impact of changing technology and ways of doing business

• Revise methodology and data sources for government, financial and insurance services

• Update to BPM6 in September 2009• Addressing the impact of confidentiality• Collect trade in services statistics by the

four GATS modes of supply