The Structure of Services Offshoring

This third chapter uses descriptive statistics to analyze the “Structure of Services Offshoring”. We identify the position of German services offshoring relative to other countries. We also look at the sectoral and regional structure of services offshoring. The analysis is based on balance of payments statistics, input–output data, and existing studies. Section 3.1 gives an overview of the largest offshoring countries at absolute and relative consideration, followed by the development of services offshoring in selected OECD countries. We then calculate services offshoring intensities as a more sophisticated measure of services offshoring. Services offshoring intensities measure the proportion of imported service inputs in total non-energy inputs used in home production. German offshoring intensities are then compared to previously available offshoring intensities for other countries. The sectoral structure of services offshoring in section 3.2 identifies the main offshoring sectors as well as the kind of service activities that are most commonly being offshored. First, the global development is discussed before moving on to specific trends in Germany. Finally, the regional structure of services offshoring in section 3.3 presents the major destination countries from a global and a German perspective.