Economy · Glossary
Services, value added (% of GDP)
NV.SRV.TOTL.ZS
Definition
Services industries correspond to ISIC (Rev. 4) divisions 45-99 and includes wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, hotels and retaurants, transport, storage and communication, financial intermediation, real estate, renting and business activities, public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, health and social work, other community, social and personal service activities, private households with employed persons, and extra-territorial organizations and bodies. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Methodology for Economy indicators
Economic indicators measure the size, structure, and dynamics of a country's economy. The World Bank collects data from national statistical offices, central banks, and the IMF, then normalizes it for cross-country comparison. Watch out for nominal versus real (inflation-adjusted) values: nominal figures in current US dollars are sensitive to exchange rate swings, while constant dollar series isolate real growth. Most macro indicators have a 1–2 year reporting lag.
How to interpret
- Always check the unit and reporting year before comparing values across countries.
- NULL or "Not available" means the World Bank did not publish a value — we never estimate.
- Year-over-year changes can be driven by methodology updates, not just real economic shifts.