MARKET ACCESS FOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OF EXPORT INTEREST
TO LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

NOTE BY THE SECRETARIAT^[1]

Contents

1   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. 4

2   INTRODUCTION.. 5

3   LDCs' TRADE PROFILE. 6

3.1   Trends in Goods and Commercial Services Trade. 6

3.2   Merchandise Trade Developments. 8

3.2.1   Commodity price movements. 10

3.2.2   Major LDC traders. 10

3.2.3   Trends in product composition. 11

3.2.4   Major markets of LDCs. 14

3.3   Services Trade Developments. 16

3.3.1   Overall trend. 16

3.3.2   Exports by main services sector 19

4   MARKET ACCESS FOR PRODUCTS OF EXPORT INTEREST TO LDCS. 24

4.1   Duty-Free Market Access Granted by Selected Members. 24

4.2   Recent Initiatives to Improve Market Access for LDCs. 27

Annex. 30

List of Tables

Table 1: Trends in LDC exports of goods and commercial services, 2017‑2021. 6

Table 2: LDCs' top ten export markets, 2017 and 2021. 15

Table 3: Duty-free tariff lines under MFN and LDC schemes in selected Members,
2020 or latest available year 24

Table 4: Imports of selected Members from LDCs, 2020 or latest available year 26

Table 5: Notifications under the LDC Services Waiver 28

List of Charts

Chart 1: Evolution of LDC exports of goods and commercial services, 2017‑2021. 6

Chart 2: LDCs' total trade balance, 2017, 2020 and 2021. 7

Chart 3: LDCs' shares in total world trade of goods and commercial services, 2017‑2021. 7

Chart 4: Merchandise trade of LDCs, 2017‑2021. 8

Chart 5: Merchandise trade balance of LDCs, 2017‑2021. 9

Chart 6: Merchandise exports of LDCs by sub‑grouping, 2017‑2021. 9

Chart 7: Export prices of primary commodities, 2017‑2021. 10

Chart 8: Top ten LDC exporters and importers, 2017 and 2021. 11

Chart 9: Merchandise export structure of LDCs, 2017 and 2021. 12

Chart 10: Top ten products of LDC merchandise exports, 2017 and 2021. 13

Chart 11: Top 20 products of LDCs' exports with the highest shares in world
export market, 2021. 14

Chart 12: LDCs' exports of commercial services, 2017-2021. 16

Chart 13: LDCs' exports of commercial services by LDC region, 2017-2021. 16

Chart 14: Exports of commercial services of selected LDCs, 2021 vs 2019. 18

Chart 15: Leading LDC exporters of commercial services, 2021 and 2017. 19

Chart 16: Structure of LDCs' exports of commercial services, 2021 and 2019. 19

Chart 17: Travel exports of selected LDCs, 2021 vs 2019. 20

Chart 18: LDCs' transport exports by mode of transport, 2021 vs 2019. 21

Chart 19: LDCs' transport services exports by mode, 2019 and 2021. 22

Chart 20: LDCs' services exports of other commercial services, 2017–2021. 23

List of Annex Tables

Annex Table 1: Merchandise exports and imports of LDCs by selected country grouping, 2021. 30

Annex Table 2: Indices of market prices for non‑fuel and fuel commodities, 2017‑2022. 32

Annex Table 3: Imports from LDCs by major markets and product groups, 2017‑2021. 35

Annex Table 4: Top 50 exported products of LDCs in 2021. 37

Annex Table 5: Exports and imports of commercial services of the LDCs, 2021. 40

Annex Table 6: Major non-reciprocal preference schemes benefitting LDCs
undertaken by Members, 2022 or latest available year 41