Handbook on Measuring Digital Trade

Description :

The Handbook on Measuring Digital Trade (second edition) provides a framework and practical guidance on how to measure digital trade. Building upon the first edition issued in 2019, the Handbook aims to address the challenges inherent in measuring digital trade and to establish consistent practices that will allow for comparable data across countries.

The Handbook focuses on two key elements: digitally ordered trade and digitally delivered trade. Furthermore, it highlights the important role of digital intermediation platforms (DIPs) in facilitating digital trade and addresses particular compilation challenges in measuring DIP transactions.

The Handbook represents a comprehensive agreed approach to measuring digital trade. It incorporates extensive compilation guidance based on substantive inputs and case studies from both developed and developing economies. It also provides a reporting template, facilitating the production and dissemination of digital trade statistics. The template offers flexibility to statistical compilers, even when only partial information is available.

The publication is jointly authored by the WTO, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Published August 2023 | 166 pages | 297 x 210 mm | Weight: 0.500 kg

Contents

Acknowledgements
Acronyms and abbreviations
Foreword
Executive summary
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The impact of digitalization on international trade is multifaceted
1.3 The statistical definition of digital trade
1.4 Measuring digital trade is key for effective policymaking
1.5 Purpose and structure of the Handbook
1.6 Areas of ongoing work
1.7 Putting the Handbook into practice
Chapter 2: The conceptual framework for measuring digital trade
2.1 Measuring digital trade: the statistical framework
2.2 The nature of the transaction (how)
2.3 The product (What)
2.4 Actors (Who)
2.5 Non-monetary digital flows
2.6 Accounting principles
2.7 Recommended reporting template
2.8 Work on updating national accounts and balance of payments standards
Chapter 3: Digitally ordered trade
3.1 Identifying digitally ordered transactions
3.2 Measuring digitally ordered trade
3.3 Estimating the overlap between digitally ordered and digitally delivered trade
3.4 Recommendations
Chapter 4: Digitally delivered trade
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Sources for measuring digitally delivered trade
4.3 Digitally deliverable services
4.4 Towards measures of digitally delivered services
4.5 Other sources
4.6 Recommendations
Chapter 5: Digital intermediation platforms (DIPs)
5.1 The role of digital intermediation platforms in digital trade
5.2 Classifying DIPs and intermediation services
5.3. Accounting principles for DIP transactions
5.4. Measuring DIP transactions
5.5. Recommendations
Chapter 6: Case studies
Case study 1: Measuring digitally ordered merchandise trade in China
Case study 2: Towards a better measurement of digitally delivered trade: China’s experience and prospects
Case study 3: Digital trade in Jamaica – Exploring new measurement approaches
Case study 4: Measuring digital trade in Spain: a stock-taking exercise
Case study 5: Measuring digitally ordered merchandise trade in Türkiye
Annexes:
Annex A: Measuring the digital economy
Annex B: Accounting for digital trade transactions
Annex C: Expanded table on digitally deliverable services in EBOPS 2010
Annex D: Table of allocation by mode of supply of digitally deliverable services
Annex E: Questionnaire – General Administration of China Customs ("China Customs")
Annex F: Questionnaire – China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM)
Annex G: Questionnaire – Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) and Bank of Jamaica
Annex H: Questionnaire – Instituto Nacional de Estadística (National Statistics Institute)
Bibliography