5.3 Latin American and Caribbean services imports, by sector, through all modes of supply, 2017

Figure 5.3 Latin American and Caribbean services imports, by sector, through all modes of supply, 2017

Trade-related services (distribution), 21% Others, 5%

Transportation, 14%

Tourism and business travel, 8%

Other business services (excluding trade related), 13% Insurance and financial services, 23%

Telecommunications, computer, information, and audiovisual services, 16% Source: Trade in Services data by Mode of Supply (TiSMoS) database, World Trade Organization.

are distribution (23.9 percent), tourism and travel (22.6 percent), insurance and finance (13.6 percent), other business services (13.6 percent), transportation (10.9 percent), and telecommunications (10.6 percent). For imports, the list is similar: insurance and finance (22.7 percent), distribution (21.0 percent), telecommunications (16.1 percent), transportation (13.6 percent), and other business services (13.2 percent). Trade in either direction is only minimally developed in the remaining sectors.

Although these data depict Latin American and Caribbean trade with the rest of the world, they are important indicators for the region’s future economic integration since they highlight sectors where trade is both technologically feasible and commercially advantageous and thus should receive attention in PTA negotiations and implementation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed particular challenges for the services sector. In the last global economic shock of comparable size, the 2007–08 Global Financial Crisis, services performed better than goods in that the value of trade in services declined less sharply and rebounded more quickly (Borchert and Mattoo 2010). But the situation