Introduction to Trade in Value Added (TiVA)

The goods and services we buy are composed of inputs from various countries around the world. However, the flows of goods and services within these global production chains are not always reflected in conventional measures of international trade.

The joint OECD – WTO Trade in Value-Added (TiVA) initiative addresses this issue by considering the value added by each country in the production of goods and services that are consumed worldwide. TiVA indicators are designed to better inform policy makers by providing new insights into the commercial relations between nations.

Remarks on TiVA at the Istanbul G20 Trade Ministers meeting, 6 October 2015.

 

 

 

Forthcoming releases of TiVA indicators and Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) tables

• Q1 2017: A "light" update of the 2015 version of TiVA/ICIO introducing two new countries, Morocco and Peru. The industry list will remain unchanged. The indicators will be provided for all years from 1995 to 2011. For certain indicators, series will be extended to 2014 using nowcasting techniques.
• Q1 2018: A "major" update will occur. During 2017, the OECD will work extensively on constructing a new version of the ICIO (and TiVA indicators) drawing on statistics compiled according to the most recent international standards; notably the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA08) and the ISIC Rev.4 industry classification. The current target years are 2010 to 2013, although the feasibility of extending back to 2008 or 2005 will be explored. Nowcasting methods will be applied to extend TiVA indicators to later years.

2015 edition of TiVA indicators

The 2015 edition of the TiVA database includes 61 economies covering OECD, EU28, G20, most East and South-east Asian economies and a selection of South American countries. The industry list has been expanded to cover 34 unique industrial sectors, including 16 manufacturing and 14 services sectors. The years covered are 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2008 to 2011.

The indicators presented in the TiVA database provide insights into:

• Domestic and foreign value added content of gross exports by exporting industry
• Services content of gross exports by exporting industry, by type of service and value added origin
• Participation in GVCs via intermediate imports embodied in exports (backward linkages) and domestic value added in partners’ exports (forward linkages)
• ‘Global orientation’ of industrial activity i.e. share of industry valued added that meets foreign final demand
• Origins of value added in final demand, by source country and source industry, including the origin of value added in final consumption (by households and government) and in GFCF (investment by businesses)
• Bilateral trade relationships based on flows of value added embodied in domestic final demand
• Inter-regional and intra-regional relationships

 

Access to the TiVA database (OECD.STAT)	More information
Principal TiVA indicators (access to csv files)   Origin of value added in gross exports (by source country and industry) (access to csv files)   Origin of value added in final demand (by source country and industry) (access to csv files)	Sources and methods Trade policy implications Industry perspective (forthcoming) WTO Made in the World Initiative

The underlying Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) tables, used to derive the TiVA indicators, are available for downloading (zipped csv) at: oe.cd/icio.

Development of these TiVA indicators has greatly benefitted from other related initiatives such as work undertaken for the European Commission’s FP7 WIOD project and by researchers at  US ITC and IDE JETRO, Japan.

 

TiVA and GVCs: Country Statistical Profiles (WTO)

Country notes

40 country notes are available covering OECD members as well as major non-OECD countries.

Guide to the country notes.

OECD member countries
	Australia		Austria		Belgium (English) (français)		Canada (English) (français)		Chile
	Czech Republic		Denmark		Estonia		Finland		France (English) (français)
	Germany		Greece		Hungary	‌	Iceland		Ireland
	Israel		Italy		Japan	‌	Korea		Luxembourg (English) (français)
	Mexico		Netherlands	‌	New Zealand		Norway	‌	Poland
	Portugal		Slovak Republic		Slovenia		Spain	‌	Sweden
‌	Switzerland (English) (français)	‌	Turkey		United Kingdom		United States
Other major countries
	Brazil	‌	China	‌	‌India		Indonesia
	Russian Federation		South Africa	‌		‌

 

GVCs and going beyond TiVA

The OECD is carrying out a broad range of work to help policy makers understand the effects of Global Value Chains (GVCs). Addressing trade policy, investment policy, policies for development and a range of other domestic policies, the analyses aim at determining how economies can best draw benefits from engagement in global value chains: oe.cd/gvc.

The development of an Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) system lends itself to the calculation of indicators to provide insights into other important areas affected by economic globalisation. These include Trade in jobs and skills, e.g. how many and what type of jobs are sustained by foreign final demand (see oe.cd/io-emp, forthcoming). The ICIO, in conjunction with emissions data, also allows the calculation of estimates of Trade in embodied carbon to highlight where CO₂ is ultimately being consumed rather than produced: oe.cd/io-co2.

In addition, the OECD is improving the accounting frameworks and content of national input-output and supply use tables so that the current ICIO, used in producing TiVA estimates, can be further developed to address a range of additional policy concerns, including: 

• Trade and Investment: how income (profits) generated from international trade, in particular income generated via knowledge based assets, is further distributed between affiliates of multinational enterprises (MNEs): oe.cd/tiva-fdi.
• Trade and SMEs: to better understand the channels used by SMEs to integrate within GVCs. Gross trade data understate the importance of SMEs in GVCs but they play an important role as upstream suppliers to larger, exporting,  firms.  A recent report by OECD and World Bank Group addresses this issue: www.oecd.org/trade/OECD-WBG-g20-gvc-report-2015.pdf

The OECD Expert Group on Extended Supply Use Tables was created recently to develop new accounting frameworks and best practices for their implementation and use (see Terms of Reference). The Group is leading international efforts to develop national tables that better differentiate between firms’ involvement in GVCs. For example, accounting for heterogeneity by distinguishing between exporting and non-exporting firms in a manner similar to that developed for China and Mexico in the current ICIO.

In addition, the OECD and WTO are developing partnerships with regional agencies to assist in the expansion of TiVA indicators to other countries – at present these include APEC, UNESCWA, UNECA and Eurostat. In the meantime, a simple guide will be made available, outlining the information required for a country to be integrated into the ICIO and hence the TiVA database.

 

Contact

For any queries about the TiVA database, please write to tiva.contact@oecd.org.

Short addresses for this page: www.oecd.org/trade/valueadded or oe.cd/tiva.