Report: OECD Evaluates Services Trade Policy Trends for 2022

On February 14, the OECD released an annual report on services trade in 2022. The report is based on key findings from and analysis of the OECD’s Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI), which measures policies and barriers on services trade across many major economies. 

In 2022, many governments pursued services liberalization to improve business operations in domestic markets, advance regulatory transparency, and ease remaining impediments to business travel post-COVID-19 pandemic. Sectors most affected by trade liberalization efforts included architecture and engineering services, as well as some transport and logistics services. However, other governments introduced new services trade barriers, such as limitations on foreign companies’ ability to provide services locally, limitations on the movement of service providers, and increased control on foreign investments. Sectors most affected by new trade restrictions were audiovisual services, computing services, and physical infrastructure services.

The OECD’s STRI covers 50 countries and 22 services sectors, which represent over 80% of global services exports. 

Resources:

Read the OECD’s press release on these new findings here. 

Check out the full OECD report on services trade data in 2022 here. 

Watch a video on the report’s key findings here. 

Explore the data in the OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) here.