ENHANCING REGULATION SERVICES TRADE IN LIBERIA
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Table 2.1 EMPLOYMENT IN LIBERIA
P R I M A RY
525,000
Crops and animals Forestry Fishing Mining Extraction
494,000 9,000 5,000 14,000 3,000
M A N U FAC T U R E S E RV I C E S
65,000 485,000
Repair of machinery Electricity Construction Civil engineering Vehicle trade and repair Wholesale trade Retail trade Land transport Warehousing Postal Accomodation Food services Making films Programming and broadcast Telecommunication Information service Financial service Real estate activities Legal and accounting Architecture Other professional Employment activity Security Office admin Public admin Education Health Residential care Social work Art and entertainment Libraries Sports Membership organization Computer repair Other personal service Household as employer Household own production Source: Labour Force Survey 2010.
6,000 2,000 25,000 2,000 7,000 2,000 261,000 22,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 27,000 1,000 2,000 1,000 1,000 11,000 1,000 2,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 19,000 4,000 7,000 40,000 12,000 2,000 3,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 4,000 1,000 6,000 1,000 4,000
Despite a decline during the financial crisis, Liberia has achieved substantial export growth in commercial services since 2004. The great trade collapse observed in 2009 was not limited to goods trade but also affected services trade, as given by their complementarities. For example, imports of transport services dropped in accordance with the decline in goods imports. In Liberia, both commercial services exports and imports increased steadily between 2004 and 2008, despite having fallen as a share of GDP; that is, GDP has been growing faster in Liberia than the country’s services trade. For exports, the average annual growth rate between those years was 28% and for imports was 40%. But in 2009, both export and import levels dropped substantially in the wake of the financial crisis, and although exports had rebounded by 2011, imports remained below precrisis levels (see figure 2.2). Liberia’s services export sector is largely dependent on travel and transport services. This sectoral export concentration can result in greater vulnerability to exogenous shocks, as demonstrated by the high impact of the 2008–2009 global financial crisis and global trade collapse. Between 2004 and 2008, exports of travel services grew from $59 million to $158 million, but the share in total commercial services remained steady at 85% on average. In 2011, travel services were 64% and transport services were 36%. The importance of transport services exports may also partially capture transfers related to Liberia’s vessel registry. Like most LDCs, Liberia is dependent on modern services imports, suggesting low development of the sector domestically. Although tourism is an emerging sector, exports of services other than travel and transport are modest and show an increasingly negative balance (see figure 2.3), suggesting a low development of the sector domestically. These “modern” services include telecommunications, financial services, and IT-enabled business services such as BPO. Imports of modern services surpassed imports of travel and transport services in 2011 to represent 49% of services imports (see figure 2.4).