"Ministers information": Slow down the growth of global trade in the services sector
The Information and Decision Support Center in the Council of Ministers, highlighted the report issued by the World Trade Organization (WTO), which indicated the slowdown in the growth of service trade globally during the first quarter of 2025, and this is due to the escalation of economic ambiguity. Asia maintains its momentum, as he explained that the slowdown was mainly driven by a decrease in sectors including financial services and intellectual property rights, and in return, computer services, travel and transportation services continued to achieve varying growth, with a strong performance of a number of Asian economies, led by China, India and Japan. The growth of global trade in the services sector during the first quarter of 2025 slowed down to 5% on an annual basis, which is almost equivalent to half the pace of growth recorded in 2023 and 2024, and the increase in the value of the US dollar against the euro and other currencies, in addition to increasing the state of economic uncertainty, contributed to this slowdown in the services trade during the first months of Year. The performance of the & quot; other commercial services & quot; (Other Commercial Services), a category that includes a wide range of services that provide digitally, from financial and to professional services, and in 2024, it formed & quot; other commercial services & quot; About 60% of the Global Service Trade, Europe contributed 40% of it.
& nbsp; The United States of America recorded a weak growth of 4% on an annual basis in this category, after it had achieved 8% growth during the same period in 2024. The European Union exports remained stable by the dollar value, but it increased by 4% when measuring it in the euro. Annually in the first quarter of 2025, which reflects the decrease in investment activity amid the increasing state of global economic uncertainty. The sector was also affected by exchange rate fluctuations, which led to the curbing of growth when measured by US dollars. The exports of the European Union and the United States of America increased by only 2%, while Switzerland’s exports decreased by 3%. In contrast, the United Kingdom recorded a strong growth of 10% on an annual basis, supported by 13% in its exports to the United States of America.
& nbsp; It is largely concentrated, as the exports of the European Union and the United States of America constituted about 70% of the total exports in 2024. The European Union exports (dollars) increased by only 3%, affected by the exchange rate fluctuations, despite the actual growth of 6% when measuring the euro. It decreased by 15% on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2025, to partially retreat from the strong growth of 25%, which was achieved in the same period in 2024. This decrease reflects the weakest performance in several major economies, including China (-25%), which alone constituted more than 28% of global construction exports in 2024, along with South Korea (-15%) and the European Union (-6%). It is likely that the decline reflects the delay in investments as a result of ambiguity and high costs. This momentum is expected to continue to adapt to business with new technologies and the increasing consumer preferences for digital services. During the period, India’s exports of computer services grew by 13%, while Ireland recorded a 9%increase. Asia recorded the highest growth rate of 10%, driven by an increase of 31%in China, while Singapore and South Korea achieved slight increases by 2%. Shipping services payments increased by 19% in Central and South America and the Caribbean region as a result of high demand for goods. For the United Nations. In Asia, travel revenues increased by 13%, driven by growth in China (+96%), Vietnam (+33%), Japan (+25%) and Thailand (+18%), as tourism continues to recover in the region. In North America, travel revenues decreased by 1%. Two -digitary export rates have been recorded in Asian economies such as China (+13%to June), India (+12%) and Japan (+11%). In North America, trends have varied; Where the exports of the United States of America increased by 5%, while Canada’s exports decreased by 6%. European Union exports to non -member countries increased by 3%, while its imports increased by 6%. The United Kingdom achieved a remarkable growth in its exports by 9%, while its imports increased by 13%.
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