Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services

E. Statistics by trading partner 
3.38. There is a need for detailed geographical 
allocations of the statistics on the various types of 
services supplied and consumed by each economy 
according to the country of residence of trading partners. 
Such statistics give a firm basis for multilateral and 
bilateral trade in services negotiations that are carried 
out under GATS; they reveal developments in patterns 
of trade by type of service and are important for a 
variety of analytical purposes. Bilateral comparisons of 
one country’s data with those of a trading partner, 
through the use of “mirror statistics”, are an important 
tool for investigating and improving data quality. To the 
extent possible, an identical geographical basis should 
be used for all related sets of international services 
statistics (including FATS statistics). 
3.39. Thus, in the present 
Manual
, it is recommended 
that statistics on international trade in services be 
compiled on an individual trading partner basis, at least 
at the level of the 11 major components of the BPM5 
classification of services (see para. 2.52 above), and 
where possible at the more detailed EBOPS level. The 
production of these statistics is one of the core elements 
recommended in the present 
Manual,
and data collection 
by trading partner should, if practicable, be developed 
concurrently with the development of data collection at 
the EBOPS level. It is recognized that, depending on the 
data collection methods used, it may be very resource-
intensive and difficult for compilers to develop statistics 
by trading partner.
3.40. Given the obstacles, such as disclosure or 
incomplete information, to providing a complete detailed 
geographic breakdown of trade in services, the present 
Manual
recommends that statistics be compiled at a 
detailed partner country level where compilers identify 
such statistics as being of most relevance in their 
economies. This means that countries should give 
priority to detailing their trade in services with their 
main trading partners.