Services and the country's balance of payments on the example of Poland

Abstract

PURPOSE: The growing importance of services in the economy and in international trade constitutes a premise for undertaking this study which attempts to examine selected aspects of international trade in services and their share in Poland's balance of payments. Particular attention has been paid to the export and import of tourist services.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Achieving this goal required analyzing statistical data regarding world trade (OECD) and the Polish balance of payments (mainly based on the NBP reports). Qualitative methods (analysis of the subject literature) and general methods of statistical data analysis were applied.

FINDINGS: The conducted research allowed for the conclusion that both in world trade and in Polish foreign trade, the share of services turnover is increasing, and the share of services in the Polish foreign trade turnover is close to the world average.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: It was also shown that, compared to trends in world trade, there is a positive trend in exports and imports of tourist services in Poland after the Covid-19 pandemic.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The balance of services in the Polish balance of payments is positive, which proves the high competitiveness of services which contribute to the surplus of exports over imports of services to the greatest extent.