The Global Trade Update – September 2026 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed that services are playing an increasingly important role in global production and trade.
The share of service exports in global exports rose from 23% in 2015 to 27% in 2025. Global service exports grew by an annual average of approximately 6.7% over the past decade and recorded an 8.3% increase in 2025.
Digitalization drives services trade
The widespread use of digital platforms, advances in cloud computing and improvements in connectivity infrastructure in some regions accelerated the growth of digitally deliverable services. Trade in this area increased by an annual average of 7.1% over the past decade, reaching 56% of global service exports.
Insurance and pension services, finance, telecommunications, computer and information services, research and development, professional and management consulting, as well as architectural, engineering, scientific and technical services, are among the digitally deliverable services.
Developed economies lead in digital services
Digital services accounted for approximately 61% of total service exports in developed economies, while their share remained at 16% in least developed countries. Traditional services such as transport and travel continued to dominate in least developed countries. Alongside developed economies, an increasing number of developing economies also shifted toward knowledge-intensive and high-value-added services.
Total service exports from least developed countries grew by an annual average of 3% over the past decade. However, their share of global service exports declined from less than 1% in 2010 to 0.6% in 2025.
The report said that investments in reliable and affordable connectivity infrastructure, the facilitation of cross-border data and payment flows, the development of digital skills and the creation of a predictable regulatory environment were needed to make greater use of the opportunities offered by digital services trade.
Artificial intelligence could deepen digital inequality
Artificial intelligence could increase productivity and innovation in service industries and reduce the cost of producing and delivering digital services, the report said. It also warned that the concentration of advanced infrastructure, high computing capacity, data, capital and skilled labor in a limited number of countries and companies could further widen existing digital inequalities.
The average score in the AI Readiness Index was calculated at 0.65 for developed economies, 0.41 for developing economies and 0.31 for least developed countries. Fewer than one-third of developing countries were said to have a national artificial intelligence strategy.
Erdem Erkul, chairman of the Digital Technologies Business Council at the Foreign Economic Relations Board, said that products in many sectors, including automotive, energy, health care and logistics, were being offered together with software, data, design, financing, consulting and after-sales services. Erkul said competitiveness would be determined not only by production volumes but also by the value of the technology and services added to products.
Erkul said developing countries needed to invest in fast, secure and affordable digital infrastructure, improve their digital skills and facilitate cross-border payment systems. He added that companies should be supported so they could take the technologies they develop to international markets, scale them and turn them into global brands.
Erkul said artificial intelligence could provide developing countries with export opportunities in software development, customer service, finance, health care, education, energy and logistics. He said the concentration of data, financing, skilled human resources and computing capacity in a limited number of countries could widen the digital divide.
Erkul said Türkiye's industrial infrastructure provided a foundation for the development and deployment of artificial intelligence companies, adding that solutions for quality control, energy management and maintenance processes in factories could be taken to international markets.
