Services continue to gain ground in global exports, driven mainly by those that can be provided digitally; however, this progress also highlights a widening gap between developed economies and least developed countries, warned the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) .

According to the most recent World Trade Update , the organization indicated that services went from representing 23% of world exports in 2015 to 27% in 2025 , while in 2022 they reached 71% of the intermediate inputs used globally.

In developed economies, that proportion reached 78%, compared to 61% in developing countries and 58% in least developed countries (LDCs), according to the organization, which indicated that this transformation is known as “servicification.” This refers to the increasing integration of services into virtually all productive activities, from agriculture to manufacturing.

The merchandise includes incorporated services

UNCTAD noted that in 2022 services accounted for 33% of intermediate inputs incorporated into industrial goods exports from developed economies, compared to 27% in developing countries and just 13% in LDCs.

This difference is important because the quality, availability, and cost of these services directly affect the competitiveness of products . A commodity may cross a border as a physical good, but behind it lies transportation, storage, financing, design, engineering, marketing, and information processing.

For logistics, this change means moving from being considered a support function to becoming one of the components that enables companies to compete in international markets. The efficiency of a supply chain no longer depends solely on moving cargo, but on the ability to integrate information, services, and decisions throughout the process.

The next step is happening in the digital realm. Global exports of services that can be delivered digitally have grown at an average annual rate of 7.1% over the past decade and already account for 56% of global service exports. By 2025, total service exports are projected to grow by 8.3%, outpacing the growth rate of goods exports. But this growth is not evenly distributed.

The divide is now also digital.

LDCs generate only 0.6% of global service exports, and digitally deliverable services account for only 16% of their service exports, compared to 61% in developed economies.

UNCTAD identified several obstacles: limited and expensive connectivity, insufficient digital infrastructure , fragmented cross-border payment systems, weak regulatory frameworks, and a lack of specialized capabilities.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can widen that gap even further. Its adoption requires digital infrastructure, computing power, data, capital, and skilled workers—resources currently concentrated in a small number of economies and companies. The technology can boost productivity and innovation, but it can also automate routine tasks that have served as a gateway for some developing economies into the services trade.

The gap doesn’t end with infrastructure either. Digital trade is accompanied by new rules. Of the 487 preferential trade agreements signed between 2000 and 2025, 55% incorporated provisions on e-commerce or digital trade , 39% included exceptions related to digital trade, and 38% included provisions on personal data protection.

The result is a more complex regulatory map for businesses, particularly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that must operate under different rules depending on the market.

The new challenge for global chains

The transformation of trade requires a broader perspective on supply chains. Physical infrastructure alone is no longer enough: ports, roads, railways, and warehouses need to be connected with digital infrastructure, payment systems, reliable data, and professional capabilities.

UNCTAD proposes three conditions to take advantage of this new stage : better data for designing public policies, stronger digital infrastructure and capabilities, and international cooperation that allows for reducing regulatory fragmentation.

For companies integrated into global supply chains, this means that services are gaining importance in what countries produce and export, while digitalization is changing the way services are provided and marketed.

In this sense, international competition is no longer defined solely by who manufactures more cheaply or who moves more goods, but by who can combine logistics, information, technology, financing, and talent to make a supply chain function more efficiently. In this transition, logistics ceases to be merely a component of the goods themselves. It becomes part of their value.

Also, greater transparency, regulatory cooperation and negotiating power can help developing countries participate meaningfully in the development of emerging standards , so that new standards reflect different levels of development and national priorities.

Comment and follow us on LinkedIn:  @GrupoT21

El cargo Services and digitalization redefine global trade: UNCTAD apareció primero en T21.