MARKET ACCESS FOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OF
EXPORT INTEREST
TO LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT[1]
Revision
Contents
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. 4
2 Introduction.. 6
3 LDCs' TRADE PROFILE. 7
3.1 Trends in Goods and Commercial Services. 7
3.2 Merchandise Trade Developments. 11
3.2.1 Overall trend. 11
3.2.2 Commodity price movements. 13
3.2.3 Major LDC traders. 13
3.2.4 Trends in product composition. 14
3.2.5 Major markets of LDCs. 18
3.3 Services Trade Developments. 19
4 MARKET ACCESS FOR
PRODUCTS OF EXPORT INTEREST TO LDCS. 28
4.1 Trends in market access for products of
export interest to LDCs. 28
4.2 Duty-free market access granted by
selected Members. 29
4.3 Recent initiatives to improve market
access for LDCs. 31
annex. 33
List of Tables
Table 1: Trends in LDC exports of goods and
commercial services, 2005-2016. 7
Table 2: LDCs and
world trade in goods and commercial services, 2005-2016. 10
Table 3: LDCs'
top 20 export products in terms of increase in world market share, 2005 and
2016 17
Table 4: LDCs'
top ten export markets, 2005 and 2016. 19
Table 5: Average
tariffs applied by developed Members on key products from LDCs, 2011-2015 29
Table 6:
Duty-free market access under LDC schemes in selected Members, 2015. 30
Table 7:
Notifications under the LDC Services Waiver 32
List
of Charts
Chart 1: Evolution of LDC exports of goods and
commercial services, 2005-2016. 7
Chart 2: LDCs'
total trade balance, 2005 and 2016. 8
Chart 3:
Development in merchandise trade volume of LDCs and developing economies,
2005-2016 8
Chart 4: LDCs'
shares in world exports, 2005-2016. 9
Chart 5:
Merchandise trade of LDCs, 2006-2016. 11
Chart 6:
Merchandise trade balance of LDCs, 2005-2016. 12
Chart 7:
Merchandise exports of LDCs by product specialization, 2005-2016. 12
Chart 8: Export
prices of primary commodities, 2005-2016. 13
Chart 9: Top ten
LDC exporters and importers, 2005 and 2016. 14
Chart 10:
Evolution of merchandise export structure of LDCs, 2005 and 2016. 15
Chart 11: Top ten
products of LDC merchandise exports, 2005 and 2016. 16
Chart 12: Top 20
products of LDCs' exports with the highest shares in world export market, 2016 18
Chart 13: LDCs'
trade in commercial services, 2006-2016. 20
Chart 14: LDCs'
share in world exports and imports of commercial services, 2005-2016. 20
Chart 15: LDCs'
exports of commercial services by LDC region, 2005-2016. 21
Chart 16: Leading
LDC traders of commercial services, 2016. 22
Chart 17: LDCs'
travel exports and international tourist arrivals, 2005-2016. 22
Chart 18: LDCs:
Travel exports, and exports of agricultural products, manufactured goods, and
fuels and mining products, 2005-2016. 23
Chart 19: LDCs:
GDP by selected economic activities 2005-2014. 23
Chart 20: LDCs in
Asia and in Africa: International tourist arrivals by region of origin and
travel exports, 2005-2016 24
Chart 21: LDCs'
export growth of other commercial services by sector, 2005-2016. 25
Chart 22: Digital
divide between developed economies and LDCs, 2005-2017. 25
Chart 23: GDP by
main economic activity in LDCs, 2005-2014. 26
Chart 24: GDP by
main economic activity in LDCs, 2014. 27
Chart 25:
Proportion of tariff lines worldwide with zero
duty applied to products from developing countries and LDCs, 2005, 2010 and
2015. 28
List of Boxes
Box 1: The contribution of services to GDP in LDCs. 26
List of Annex
Tables
Annex Table 1:
Merchandise exports and imports of LDCs by selected country grouping, 2016... ... 33
Annex Table 2:
Export prices of primary commodities, 2005-2017 (Q2) 35
Annex Table 3:
Imports from LDCs by major markets and product groups, 2005-2016. 37
Annex Table 4:
Top 50 exported products of LDCs in 2016. 39
Annex Table 5:
Exports and imports of commercial services of the LDCs, 2016. 41
Annex Table 6:
Major multilateral non-reciprocal LDC preference schemes undertaken by Members,
2017 or latest available yeara 42
[1] This document has been prepared under the Secretariat's own
responsibility and is without prejudice to the positions of Members or to their
rights and obligations under the WTO.