Service exports linked to imports
Comparing Imports of goods and services (BoP, current US$) with Share of service in total exports across 198 countries, 1994–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.97
- Holding size constant
- +0.91
- Countries compared
- 198
- Period
- 1994–2025
What might link these
The strong correlation might be due to countries with diverse economies having both high service exports and imports. A careful reader should consider the role of economic openness as a likely confounder. This relationship could be driven by overall trade volumes rather than a direct link between the indicators.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. This correlation could mislead by implying a direct relationship between service exports and imports, when in fact it might be driven by other factors such as economic size or trade policies.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.