Services

Besides trade in goods, international trade in services is an important contribution to economic development in Austria. As Austria is a favored tourism destination, travel constitutes a traditional pillar of the current account and the external contribution to GDP. But also other, business-related services like transport and technology intensive kind of services are an important contribution.

The OeNB compiles data on Austria’s international trade in services in close cooperation with Statistics Austria. Travel data are derived from various sources, including statistics on overnight stays, guest surveys, payment card data and Mobile Positioning Data (MPD). Information on business services is gathered from enterprise surveys (concentration sample).

Business services comprise an array of service categories, such as freight and passenger transport, construction, computer and information services, business and management consulting services as well as research and development services. The classification corresponds with the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS 2010). Revenues (exports) as well as expenses (imports) are compiled.

Besides entering the Balance of Payments, also structural information is released on trade in business services (Services Trade by Enterprise Characteristics, STEC). To this end, micro data on exports and imports, reported by enterprises, are linked with information from the business register and other business statistics (Structural Business Statistics, SBS; Foreign Direct Investment, FDI; Foreign Affiliates Statistics, FATS). As a result, international trade in services is presented by industry (ÖNACE 2008), number of employees and type of ownership (domestic/foreign control, FDI abroad). This presentation is only possible for services trade, which is captured by enterprise surveys, i.e. not for travel or macro-statistic estimates.

Additionally, international trade in services can be detailed by the way services are provided. These are the modes of supply. According to GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services), four different modes can be distinguished: cross-border, i.e. supplier and customer stay in their country (mode 1), in the country of the supplier (mode 2), by establishing commercial presence abroad (mode 3) and in the country of the customer (mode 4). Mode 3 goes beyond the scope of the Balance of Payments. These data are obtained from FATS. Furthermore, distribution services are estimated which are part of foreign trade.