• Share of trade in GDP

    International trade in goods and services is a principal channel of economic integration. A convenient way to measure the importance of international trade is to calculate the share of trade in GDP.

    International trade tends to be more important for countries that are small (in terms of geographic size or population) and surrounded by neighboring countries with open trade regimes than for large, relatively self-sufficient countries or those that are geographically isolated and thus penalised by high transport costs. Other factors also play a role and help explain differences in trade-to-GDP ratios across countries, such as history, culture, trade policy, the structure of the economy (especially the weight of non-tradable services in GDP), re-exports and the presence of multinational firms, which leads to much intra-firm trade.

  • Trade in goods

    Since its creation, the OECD has sought to promote international trade, considering it an effective way of enhancing economic growth and raising living standards. Member countries benefit from increased trade as do OECD’s trade partners in the rest of the world.

  • Trade in services

    International trade in services is growing in importance both among OECD countries and with the rest of the world. Traditional services – transport, insurance on merchandise trade, and travel – account for about half of total international trade in services, but trade in newer types of services, particularly those that can be conducted via the Internet, is growing rapidly.

  • Trading partners

    The pattern of OECD merchandise trade – where imports come from and where exports go to – has undergone significant shifts over the last decade. These are in response to changes in the distribution of global income and to globalisation – in particular, the outsourcing of manufacturing from OECD countries to the rest of the world. These tables refer to total OECD imports and exports and show merchandise trade both within the OECD area and with countries in the rest of the world.

  • Balance of payments

    The current account balance is the difference between current receipts from abroad and current payments to abroad. When the current account of the balance of payments is positive, the country can use the surplus to repay foreign debts or to lend to the rest of the world. When the current account balance is negative, the deficit will be financed by borrowing from abroad or by liquidating foreign assets acquired in earlier periods.

  • FDI flows and stocks

    Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a key element in the rapidly evolving process of international economic integration. FDI creates direct, stable and long-lasting links between economies. FDI encourages the transfer of technology and know-how between countries, and it allows the host economy to promote its products more widely in international markets. Finally, FDI is an additional source of funding for capital investment and under right policy environment it can serve as an important vehicle for enterprise development.

  • Activities of multinationals

    Firms in OECD countries increasingly adopt global strategies and establish overseas sales, marketing, production and research units to cope with new competitive pressures. Indicators on the activity of affiliates under foreign control are thus an important complement to information on FDI when analysing the weight and economic contribution of such firms in host countries. While data on the manufacturing sector have been available since the beginning of the 1980s, the OECD did not start collecting data on the activity of affiliates under foreign control in services until the second half of the 1990s, and data are not yet available for all OECD countries.