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Regulatory fragmentation continues to affect digital trade in 2022
The OECD Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (Digital STRI) shows a diverse and complex regulatory environment affecting trade in digitally enabled services across different regions. On average, however, the overall regulatory framework in 2022 remained stable (Figure 9 and Annex C). Nonetheless, there are some differences across regions both in terms of the level of trade restrictiveness and the trends observed in recent years (OECD-ESCAP-ECA-ECLAC, 2022[7]). For instance, in Europe and in the Americas, the average level of restrictiveness tends to be low compared to the average in Asia or Africa. At the same time, economies in Africa have demonstrated progress in lowering barriers to digital trade, narrowing the gap with more developed economies. Countries commonly maintain policies that impede access to communication infrastructure and movement of information across networks, including through regulatory barriers affecting the cross-border transfer of data.
