In a landmark achievement, developing economies reached a historic milestone by surpassing $1 trillion in exports of digitally deliverable services in 2023, as per a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Globally, these exports totaled $4.5 trillion, emphasizing the growing role of digital services in international trade.

What Are Digitally Deliverable Services?

Digitally deliverable services encompass a wide range of offerings that can be provided remotely via computer networks. These include:

Information Technology Consulting
Creative Industries
Telecommunications
Financial Services

While the potential for digital technologies to transform global trade is immense, the benefits remain unevenly distributed, highlighting a significant disparity in access and growth.

Challenges Faced by Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

UNCTAD data shows that while digitally deliverable services represent 56% of global services exports, they account for only 20% in least developed countries (LDCs). Despite a 43% growth in value terms between 2015 and 2023, LDCs’ share of global digitally deliverable exports has declined from 0.24% to 0.19%.

According to Torbjorn Fredriksson, head of UNCTAD’s e-commerce and digital economy program, these challenges stem from:

Infrastructure Gaps
Digital Skills Deficits
Limited Market Access
Systemic Inequalities

Fredriksson warns that without targeted interventions, the digital economy may deepen existing inequalities instead of bridging them.

UNCTAD’s Role in Fostering Inclusive Digital Trade

To address these disparities, UNCTAD actively supports the creation of international guidelines for quantifying e-commerce, aimed at fostering evidence-based policymaking. Their initiatives focus on capacity building and improving the quality, comparability, and usability of digital trade statistics.

The upcoming 5th Meeting of the Working Group on Measuring E-Commerce and the Digital Economy on 11-12 December 2024 will further this effort. The two-day event will bring together international organizations, researchers, businesses, and civil society to discuss strategies for inclusive digital growth.