The importance of services trade in global economy

The objective of this article is to present the most important tendencies in the international services trade. Geographical and material dynamics and structure of international service transfers were analysed on the basis of the available statistical data. The growing role of services trade in mature economies and growing importance of services export of the developing countries were presented. The author also presented the pivotal role of services in the ongoing transformation of international trade and investment model, characterized by the delocalization of service functions and the participation of services in the global value chains. The attention was also drawn to the need of measuring trade, including services trade, through the criteria of value added at every stage of production.