Market Access for products and services of
export interest
to least developed countries
NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT[1]
Contents
1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. 3
2 LDC'S TRADE PROFILE. 5
2.1
Trends in Goods and Commercial Services Trade. 5
2.2
Merchandise Trade Developments. 7
2.2.1
Major LDC exporters. 8
2.2.2
Trends in product composition and export markets. 9
2.3
Services Trade Development 13
2.3.1
Trends in Commercial Services Trade. 13
3 MARKET ACCESS FOR PRODUCTS OF EXPORT
INTEREST TO LDCS. 14
3.1
Duty-Free Market Access Granted by Selected Members. 14
ANNEX. 18
List of Tables
Table 1: Trends in LDC
exports of goods and commercial services, 1995‑2023. 5
Table 2: LDCs' top ten
export markets, 1995 and 2023. 12
Table 3: Duty-free tariff
lines under MFN and LDC schemes in selected Members,
2022 or latest available year 15
Table 4: Imports of selected
Members from LDCs, 2022. 16
List of Charts
Chart 1: Evolution of LDC
exports of goods and commercial services, 1995‑2023. 5
Chart 2: LDCs' total trade
balance, 1995, 2005, 2015, 2022 and 2023. 6
Chart 3: LDCs' shares in
total world trade of goods and commercial services, 1995,
2005, 2015, 2022 and 2023. 6
Chart 4: Merchandise trade
of LDCs, 1995, 2005, 2015, 2022‑2023. 7
Chart 5: Merchandise trade
balance of LDCs, 1995, 2005, 2015, 2022 and 2023. 8
Chart 6: Merchandise exports
of LDCs by sub‑grouping, 1995, 2005, 2015,
2022 and 2023. 8
Chart 7: Top ten LDC
exporters and importers, 1995 and 2023. 9
Chart 8: Merchandise export
structure of LDCs, 1995 and 2023. 10
Chart 9: Top ten products of
LDC merchandise exports, 1995 and 2023. 11
Chart 10: LDCs' exports and
imports of commercial services, 1995-2023. 13
Chart 11: Structure of LDCs'
exports of commercial services, 2023 and 2005. 14
Chart 12: LDCs' services
exports of other commercial services, 2005–2023. 14
List of Annex Tables
Annex Table 1: Merchandise
exports and imports of LDCs by selected
country grouping, 2023. 18
Annex Table 2: Exports and
imports of commercial services of the LDCs, 2023. 20
Annex Table 3: Major
multilateral non-reciprocal LDC preference schemes
undertaken by Members, 2024 or latest available year 21
1._
This Note,
prepared by the Secretariat on an annual basis, provides an update on the
trends in the least developed countries' (LDCs) trade and market access
conditions.[2],
[3]
With a view to reviewing LDC trade development, over the past 30 years, the
note covers the period of 1995-2023, and includes recent trends in LDCs' trade
flows in goods and commercial services, as well as information on duty-free
market access for LDC products and recent initiatives undertaken by Members to
improve market access for LDCs.
2._
Over the past 30 years, LDCs' exports of goods and
services increased at an average annual rate of 8.7%, higher than the world
average of 5.9%. In 2023, LDCs' goods exports
experienced a slight decline by 5% year-on-year; meanwhile, exports of
commercial services have increased by 9%.
3._
LDCs' share in world exports of goods and commercial
services nearly doubled over the past 30 years, from 0.59% in 1995 to 1.17% in 2023. LDCs' share in world imports increased from 0.7% in 1995 to 1.36%
in 2023. LDCs' share in world merchandise exports grew from 0.47% in 1995 to 1.10%
in 2023. Meanwhile, LDCs' share in global commercial services exports increased
marginally from 0.42% in 1995 to 0.56% in 2023.
4._
LDCs' overall trade deficit increased significantly
from USD 14.0 billion in 1995 to USD 101.1 billion in 2023. LDCs' merchandise trade deficit increased sixfold, from USD 10
billion in 1995 to USD 64 billion in 2023. LDCs' services trade deficit stood
at USD 35 billion in 2023.
5._
LDCs' merchandise exports increased almost eleven-fold
from USD 24 billion in 1995 to USD 258 billion 2023. LDCs' merchandise imports increased almost tenfold over the same
time-period, reaching USD 322 billion in 2023.
6._
LDCs' merchandise exports became more concentrated,
with shifts in terms of top exporters and markets.
The top ten LDC exporters accounted for 75% of all LDCs' merchandise exports in
2023, up from 67% in 1995. In 2023, Bangladesh was the top LDC exporter,
accounting for 22% of all LDC exports, up from 15% in 1995. In 2023, Angola was
the second biggest LDC exporter (15%), followed by Cambodia (9%), the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (6%), and Myanmar (6%). Top destination
markets accounted for 87% of all LDCs' merchandise exports in 2023, up
from 75% in 1995. In 2023, China was the top destination for LDC exports,
accounting for 24% of all LDC exports, up from 4% in 1995. In 2023, the
European Union was the second biggest destination market for LDC exports (21%),
followed by the United Arab Emirates (11%), the United States (9%) and
India (7%).
7._
The product composition of LDC exports did not see a
qualitative change over the past 30 years. The
share of primary products in total LDCs' merchandise exports remained stable at
around 53%. Between 1995 and 2023, the share of fuels decreased from 23% in
1995 to 18% in 2023. At the same time, the shares of non-ferrous metals
and that of ores and minerals grew from 6% to 9%, and from 5% to 7%,
respectively. The shares of food and agricultural raw materials dropped from
23% to 9% and from 11% to 2%, respectively.
Regarding manufactures, the share of clothing increased from 14% to 25%.
8._
LDC services exports grew nearly ninefold from USD 5
billion in 1995 to USD 43.5 billion in 2023. In
2023, LDCs' exports of commercial services have fully recovered to the
pre-pandemic levels. LDCs' share in world's services imports increased from 0.96%
in 1995 to 1.09% in 2023. In 2023, Ethiopia was the largest exporter of
LDCs' commercial services (16%), followed by Tanzania (14%) and Bangladesh (10%).
The structure of LDCs' commercial services has undergone some changes due to
the COVID-19 pandemic as the share of travel exports, which accounted for half
of LDCs' services exports, declined to 37.7% in 2023, and the share of
transport (mainly air transport), increased to 33.3%.
Developed and developing country Members have offered LDCs
duty-free market access opportunities. Australia, New Zealand,
Norway and Switzerland offer 100% duty-free market access to LDCs. Chile, the
European Union and the United Kingdom offer over 99% duty‑free market access to
LDCs. Since the last report, Canada notified that it extended the duration of its
General Preferential Tariff (GPT) and Least-Developed Country Tariff (LDCT) scheme
to 31 December 2034 (WT/COMTD/N/15/Add.4).
[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.
[2] Despite improvements in the
production of national data, the statistical coverage of LDCs remains
incomplete. The Secretariat has been using reported national figures whenever
available. In many instances, it was still necessary to rely on mirror statistics
i.e. data reported by LDCs' trading partners. The disadvantage of using mirror
data is that it does not allow taking trade among the LDCs into consideration,
as well as trade with non-reporting developing economies.
[3] The definition of geographical and
other groupings in this report serves only statistical purposes; it does not
imply an expression of opinion by the Secretariat concerning the status of any
country or territory, the delimitation of its frontiers, nor the rights and
obligations of any WTO Member in respect of WTO agreements.