U.S. International Services

Trade in Services and Services Supplied Through Affiliates in 2024

October 30, 2026

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases statistics on international services annually.¹ These statistics cover both U.S. international trade in services and services supplied by majority-owned U.S. and foreign affiliates of multinational enterprises (MNEs).² MNEs can serve foreign markets through trade, but they often provide services through their affiliates located in, or close to, the markets they serve because of the importance of physical proximity to customers in the delivery of certain types of services.³ For the basics on how international services are supplied to foreign and U.S. persons, including diagrams with examples, see “Definition of International Services” on the BEA website.

Chart 1 presents total U.S. international services supplied to foreign persons by U.S.-based firms and to U.S. persons by foreign-based firms for the most recent years for which statistics are available. Total services supplied is the sum of services supplied through affiliates and an adjusted measure of trade in services that differs from BEA’s official statistics for trade in services. The adjustment is made to focus the scope of services supplied to foreign persons by U.S.-based firms to U.S. firms with U.S.-majority ownership and services supplied to U.S. persons by foreign-based firms to foreign-based firms with foreign-majority ownership.⁴ Although BEA’s most recently published annual official statistics for trade in services are available through 2025, the adjustment is based on the most recently published statistics for services supplied through affiliates, which are available through 2024.

In 2024, total services supplied by U.S.-based firms to foreign persons through both trade (adjusted) and sales by foreign affiliates of U.S. MNEs was $3.40 trillion, and total services supplied to the United States by foreign-based firms through both trade and sales by U.S. affiliates of foreign MNEs was $2.05 trillion.
In 2024, services supplied to foreign persons through foreign affiliates of U.S. MNEs and services supplied to U.S. persons through U.S. affiliates of foreign MNEs increased 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
In 2024, services supplied to foreign persons through trade (adjusted) and services supplied to U.S. persons through trade (adjusted) increased 11 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Chart 1. U.S. International Services Supplied, 2021–2023

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Improvements to the International Services Statistics

BEA continues to improve its statistics on international services. Some changes have now been implemented, and others are underway.

Updates to the industry classification for services supplied through affiliates

Statistics on services supplied through affiliates by industry are classified according to International Surveys Industry (ISI) classifications that are adapted by BEA from the most recent North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Reflecting the changes made to the NAICS for 2022 to deemphasize the delivery method (for example, electronic versus in person) as an industry function, BEA’s ISI classifications were significantly updated for the retail trade and information sectors.¹ For services supplied to U.S. persons by foreign MNEs, these updates were incorporated for statistics starting in 2022, resulting in industry reclassifications in international services tables 5.1 and 5.3. Similar changes were incorporated in October 2026 for services supplied to foreign persons by U.S. MNEs in international services tables 4.1 and 4.3 for statistics starting in 2024.

Future enhancements to the international services statistics

Updates to the timeliness of international services statistics in 2027. Beginning in 2027, statistics on services supplied through affiliates (tables 4.1 through 5.4) will be released in July, rather than October, as part of a broader effort to accelerate the release of activities of multinational enterprises statistics. The July 2027 release will include data through 2025. As a result of this acceleration, all international services tables (1.1 through 6.4) will be updated simultaneously.
Exploratory estimates on U.S. trade in services by state. BEA continues to explore more ways to expand the detail of its international services statistics. In 2026, BEA published the first in a series of papers dedicated to developing a complete set of statistics on trade in services by state. Information on the U.S. state where the services included in BEA’s currently published trade in services statistics are performed (exports) or purchased (imports) will provide valuable information to policymakers at the national, state, and local levels about how exporting and importing affect state economies.

For additional information, see BEA, Guide to Industry Classifications for International Surveys 2022 (Washington, DC: BEA, April 2022).

The trade in services component of the international services statistics was released in July 2026, and the services supplied through affiliates component was released in October 2026. Starting in 2027, both components will be released in July.
The term “affiliates” in this article refers to majority-owned affiliates. The statistics on services supplied through affiliates cover the full value of services provided by majority-owned affiliates, irrespective of the percentage of ownership.
The statistics on trade in services and services supplied through affiliates are not directly comparable, because of differences in coverage and classification. For example, wholesale and retail trade distributive services are included in services supplied through affiliates but not in trade in services statistics. For more information, see “Definition of International Services” on the BEA website.
For more information, see chart 1 and footnotes 1 and 2 in this article and the box “Refinements to the Calculation of Total International Services Supplied” in Shari A. Allen and Maryam Fatima, “U.S. International Services: Trade in Services in 2021 and Services Supplied Through Affiliates in 2020,” Survey of Current Business 102 (October 2022).

Suggested citation
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, “U.S. International Services: Trade in Services and Services Supplied Through Affiliates in 2024,” Survey of Current Business (October 30, 2026), https://doi.org/10.66137/DWSM4205.