Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

policymakers, researchers and practitioners can freely use theUNCTAD Global Database for Creative Economy to maketheir own creative-industries country profiles — undoubtedlyis a positive step to facilitate national level policymaking,studies and business practice. Due to the complexity and theheterogeneity of the creative industries, difficulties in conceptualizing,classifying and measuring trade of the creativeindustries persist, but work has to continue. The trade figurespresented below are clearly an underestimate. They cannotcapture the true contribution of the creative industries toworld trade, due to methodological shortcomings and theabsence of data for the international flows in revenues ofintellectual property rights. Nevertheless, this is our contributionto advance the economic and development agendaaround the creative economy. The market is booming, anddeveloping countries should act now. The priority should bethe policy actions rather than indicators.10.2.7 TradeThe creative industries have been one of the mostdynamic sectors in world trade during this decade. This is apositive sum-game for both developed and developing countries.Exports of creative goods and services amounted to$592 billion in 2008, compared to $267 billion in 2002,which means an annual growth rate of nearly 14 per centover six years. In the case of creative services, exports significantlyincreased, tripling its trade value from $62 billion in2002 to $185 billion in 2008. The sectors with greaterdynamism were architecture and advertising services, whilecultural and recreational services and audiovisuals recorded10 per cent annual growth during the 2002-2008 period.The predominance of developed countries in world trade ofcreative goods is undeniable. In 2008, their share in totalexports of creative goods is estimated at about 90 per centfor music and audiovisuals, about 80 per cent for publishing/printedmedia, 75 per cent for visual arts and about 50per cent for new media and design. For developing countries,art-crafts and design products are the most traded productsaccounting for 65 per cent and nearly 50 per cent respectivelyof their share in the world market for creative industries.A new feature in this report is an analysis of South-South trade, which constitutes a vibrant avenue for futuretrade growth. The South’s exports to the world haveincreased significantly from $76 billion in 2002 to $176 billionin 2008, account for about 43 per cent of total creativeindustries trade. More importantly, the creative goodsexports increased by 13.5 per cent annually, which is evenhigher than the world average annual growth rate during thesame period. This clearly indicates a growing dynamism andrising market share of developing countries.In 2008, South-South trade of creative goods reachednearly $60 billion and has tripled in six years. South-Southtrade in creative goods grew at an astonishing rate of 20 percent annually over the period of 2002-2008, while theSouth’a exports to the North have been growing at an annualrate of 10.5 per cent. South-South trade of creative servicesreiterates this positive trend, the meagre amount of 7.8billion in 2002 sharply increased to $21 billion in 2008. Inthe light of this upward trend, developing countries areencouraged to conclude their negotiations under the GlobalSystem of Trade Preferences in order to give more impetusto the expansion of South-South trade in this promisingarea. In brief, trade in creative industries has shown anunprecedented growth as compared to other sectors in recentyears. As this growth is likely to continue in thecoming years, there will be even more ways for developingcountries to benefit from this trade opportunity to realizedevelopment gains, while fostering, protecting and promotingtheir creative economy.10.2.8 Connectivity and ICTsUndoubtedly, a major driver of the growth of the creativeeconomy worldwide has been the rapid advance of newinformation and communication technologies (ICTs). Ofcourse, these technologies benefit the whole economy buttheir role in the creative industries is of particular significance.ICT tools offer new distribution channels for creativeproducts; allow the adoption of innovative entrepreneurialbusiness models; and strengthen the links between creativity,arts, technology and business.In developing countries, ICTs developed extremelyquickly over the last five years. Mobile technology is drivingchange for millions of people in the developing world. In 2009over 4 billion mobile phones were in use, of which 75 per centwere in the South. Many creative entrepreneurs are benefitingfrom new mobile services, as they secure business deals andmoney transactions and seize the opportunities to broadentheir customer bases and increase their participation in globalsupply chains. ICTs can leverage new links in the value chain inmany creative industries, such as music, film, digital animation,advertising and e-news. In Nigeria, for instance, Nollywoodmovies can be downloaded on newer mobile phones within thecountry and internationally.CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 201010Lessons learned and policy options259