The Global Trade Update – September 2026 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed that digital services are accounting for an increasing share of global trade.
Services’ share of global exports rose from 23% in 2015 to 27% in 2025. Global services exports grew by an annual average of approximately 6.7% over the past decade, increasing by 8.3% in 2025.
Growth in digital services accelerates
The expansion of digital platforms, advances in cloud computing and improvements in connectivity infrastructure in some regions supported the growth of digitally deliverable services. These services include insurance and pensions, finance, telecommunications, computer and information services, research and development, professional and management consulting, and architectural, engineering, scientific and technical services.
Trade in digitally deliverable services grew by an annual average of 7.1% over the past decade. These services accounted for 56% of total global services exports in 2025.
Digital divide widens between countries
Digital services’ share of total services exports rose to approximately 61% in developed economies, while remaining at 16% in least developed countries. Traditional sectors such as transport and travel continued to dominate services exports in least developed countries. Developed economies, along with an increasing number of developing economies, shifted toward knowledge-intensive and high-value-added services.
Total services exports from least developed countries grew by an annual average of 3% over the past decade. Their share of global services exports fell from less than 1% in 2010 to 0.6% in 2025.
The report said that greater benefits from digital services trade would require the development of reliable and affordable connectivity infrastructure, the facilitation of cross-border data and payment flows, investment in digital skills and the creation of a predictable regulatory environment.
Warning over inequality in artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence could increase productivity and innovation in services and reduce the costs of producing and delivering digital services, the report said. However, it warned that the concentration of advanced infrastructure, high computing capacity, data, capital and skilled labor in a limited number of countries and companies could deepen existing digital inequalities.
The average score on the Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index was calculated at 0.65 for developed economies, 0.41 for developing economies and 0.31 for least developed countries. Less than one-third of developing countries were said to have a national artificial intelligence strategy.
Erdem Erkul, chair of the Digital Technologies Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board, said that products in many sectors, from automotive and energy to healthcare and logistics, are being offered together with software, data, design, financing, consulting and after-sales services. Erkul said countries’ competitiveness would be determined not only by their production volumes but also by the technology and service value added to goods.
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 needed support to take the technologies they develop to international markets, scale them and turn them into global brands.
Erkul said artificial intelligence could offer developing countries export opportunities in areas such as software development, customer services, finance, healthcare, education, energy and logistics. He said the concentration of data, financing, specialized 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’ solutions. He added that solutions developed for quality control, energy management and maintenance processes in factories could be taken to international markets.
