Bank of Lithuania: Weight of export in GDP is increasing

“Exports in services, especially modern services, such as telecommunications, information technologies and consulting, have shown the fastest growth rates in global international trade in the recent years. In Lithuania, the share of exports in services in the country’s GDP increased over a decade by about a third and in recent years have reached around 16 percent of the total GDP,” says Mariarosaria Comunale, Principal Economist at the Applied Macroeconomic Research Division of the Bank of Lithuania.

Over the past 10 years the geography of the export of Lithuania’s services, especially modern services, significantly changed – non-EU countries (Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, China, Hong Kong, India and Japan) become increasingly more important and count now for 13 percent of the exports in total services and 17 percent of modern services. The importance of Russia and the US is instead decreasing. According to the newest statistical data, Lithuania’s key partners in the international service trade are still the EU countries – they receive more than half of all the country’s service trade (in the last quarter of 2014 – EUR 836.2 million). The import of services from EU countries amounted to EUR 680.6 million, while its positive balance – EUR 155.6 million.

In assessing separate countries, the highest amount of Lithuanian services is purchased by Russia (EUR 281.3 million) and Germany (EUR 154.1 million). The neighbouring countries of Latvia and Belarus are also significant as foreign market service providers. The export of services to these countries amounted to EUR 96.9 and EUR 149 million respectively. With all the major trade partners, Lithuania’s balance of services is positive, i.e. more services are sold than bought.

The data on service trade, grouped by country, is a constituent part of the quarterly balance of payments and it will complement the External sector’s statistical data, published by the Bank of Lithuania.