Global trade is no longer only about what moves through ports. Commercial services exports reached USD 9.6 trillion in 2025, with digitally delivered services, from software and financial services to consulting, engineering and intellectual property, accounting for 55% of the total.

The shift is accelerating. Digitally delivered services grew by 9.3% annually between 2015 and 2025, nearly twice the pace of goods trade. Computer services are at the forefront, with exports reaching USD 1.2 trillion in 2025.

Yet services trade remains highly concentrated. The U.S., U.K., Ireland, Germany and China account for 37% of global exports. The U.S. alone exported USD 1.2 trillion and generated a USD 328 billion surplus. Despite ranking among the world’s largest services exporters, China recorded the largest deficit among the top 30, at USD 115 billion.

In practical terms, an increasing share of globalisation is becoming weightless: crossing borders through networks rather than ships, trucks and aircraft. For companies and economies alike, competitiveness in global trade increasingly depends not only on what they can make, but on what they can deliver digitally.