Farm trade, services on a par

There has been a significant shift in trade patterns over the last two decades (1985-2003). The growth in services no longer outstrips that in goods and agriculture trade, according to a World Trade Organisation report.

The report, released on Friday, challenges the general perception that global trade in commercial services is growing faster than the trade in goods.

"Trade in commercial services expanded faster than goods trade in the second half of the 1980's, but thereafter the record has been mixed," the report says.

"There is no indication that services categories in general have increased their share in international trade," the report, which will form part of the WTO's World Trade Report 2004, due to be published in September, says.

The report notes the share of agricultural products in global trade has slipped, though an increasing trend in the trade of processed goods can be observed across regions, countries and agricultural products throughout the 1990-2002 period.

The WTO secretariat estimates that processed products accounted for 48 per cent of the agricultural trade by 2001-02.

According to the report, trade in sectors like industrial products on the goods side has grown faster, from 50.2 per cent of the world exports in 1985 to 58.2 per cent in 2002.

Similarly, services like computers, information services, financial services, insurance, telecommunications have grown from 6.3 per cent of world exports in 1985 to 9.4 per cent in 2002.

The segments that saw a slower growth included transport, which grew 4.5 per cent in 2002. Trade in agricultural goods also dipped to 7.2 per cent in 2002, against 11.3 per cent in 1985, while growth in mining products was down from 18.3 per cent to 9.7 per cent.