With the release of the October edition of the Survey of Current Business, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will publish the most detailed tables on trade in services by type of service and by area and country. These data represent the final product related to the restructuring of BEA’s international accounts, the most sweeping revamp since 1976.
This annual article (U.S. International Services: Trade in Services and Services Supplied Through Affiliates) provides a broad perspective on services provided by and to the United States in international markets by presenting information on both trade in services and services supplied through the channel of direct investment by affiliates of multinational enterprises. This year’s article will feature restructured tables on U.S. exports and imports of services consistent with those released with the international transactions accounts in June. The statistics on services supplied through affiliates will not be restructured but there will be minor changes to the tables to adopt new terminology.
In addition, these tables will be made available for the first time in BEA’s interactive tables. This gives users the flexibility to customize their own time series rather than relying on static Excel tables. Templates previewing the structure of the tables are available here.
New information on trade by detailed type of service and by area and country will be available under the restructured trade in services tables. For example:
- Exports and imports of accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping services by area and country
- Exports and imports of construction by area and country
- Exports and imports of architectural and engineering services by area and country
Also, the analysis in the article has expanded to include statistics on services provided to, and received from, nonresidents by U.S. government agencies, both military and nonmilitary, as part of a new category, “government goods and services n.i.e.” (not included elsewhere). With this change, this article will now provide detailed information on all U.S. trade in services, not just private services.
These changes have aligned U.S. data more closely with updated international guidelines, such as the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual. Keeping up with international guidelines makes it easier for users to compare U.S. data with data from our major trade and investment partners.