Understanding digital tradeNo 841, Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area Abstract: The widespread adoption of digital technologies has significantly reshaped international trade, ushering in a new era of digitally-driven transactions. This study provides an overview of the literature on digital trade, exploring its definitions and measurement methods, its key influencing factors, and the challenges posed by fragmented digital regulations across jurisdictions. The paper highlights the growing importance of digital trade, which reached 25 per cent of global trade in 2020 according to OECD estimates. When focusing on cutting-edge digital services, like cloud computing and online advertising, the majority of exports originate from the US, while the EU's global presence remains limited. The growth of digital trade has been fuelled by the digitalization process, from the advent of the internet to the advancement of AI, alongside trade liberalization. However, recent years have seen a rise in barriers to digital trade, in the wake of growing international tensions and a fragmented regulatory landscape, potentially harming international trade. Keywords: digital trade; e-commerce; digital connectivity; trade agreements; data flows; digital fragmentation (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_841_24 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area Contact information at EDIRC. |
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