Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

Table 5.9Creative goods: Exports, by regionaleconomic group, 2002 and 2008Regional economic groupValue (inmillions of $)Marketshare (%)2002 2008 20085International trade in creative goods and services: Global trends and featuresAmericaFTAA 33,419 53,231 17.6NAFTA 31,681 49,382 13.72MERCOSUR 973 1,593 1.87AsiaASEAN (10) 7,369 17,379 5.56ASEAN+3 46,936 113,445 23.21AfricaSADC 425 732 0.65EuropeEU (27) 89,051 163,650 38.87InternationalACP 446 1,571 1.65LDCs 344 1,579 0.31SIDS 61 135 0.17Source: UNCTAD, based on official data in UN COMTRADE database5.5 Prospects for North-South and South-South tradein creative goods and servicesSouth-South trade constitutes a vibrant avenue forfuture trade growth. The South’s exports to the rest of theworld have increased significantly, from $76 billion in 2002to $176 billion in 2008, accounting for about 43 per cent oftotal creative industries trade. More importantly, exports ofcreative goods increased by 13.5 per cent annually, even fasterthan the world average during this period. This clearly indicatesa growing dynamism and rising market share of developingcountries.In recent years, UNCTAD trade analysis has providedevidence of new market opportunities in the South. Theregion’s emerging trading and economic dynamism has createda new set of relationships among North and Southeconomies. Between 2002 and 2008, the South’s exports ofall goods to the world rose from $1.4 trillion dollars to $6.1trillion dollars. South exports to the South, increased from$828 billion to $3 trillion during this period. Exports fromSouth to South have increased faster than exports fromSouth to North, revealing further opportunities for developingcountries to engage in trading relationships with oneanother.South-South trade of creative goods reached nearly$60 billion in 2008, tripling in six years. This represents anastonishing rate of 20 per cent annually, while South exportsto the North has been growing at an impressive, but relativelyslower, annual rate of 10.5 per cent.Given its nature and duration, the current economicrecession stands to influence global markets for creativeindustries in the long term, especially the dynamics of South-South trade. Early signs suggest that trade of creative goodsand services is increasingly associated with our currentlifestyle and is therefore more resilient in the crisis. As notedearlier, creative industries have been among the most dynamicsectors in world trade throughout this decade. Countries inthe global South play an increasingly important role in thenew trade of creative products.Exports of creative goods from one developed economyto another showed a slight decline in market share from136 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010