Services Trade Restrictions Database

Note to users: The information on applied services trade policies and the Services Trade Restrictions Indices (STRI) provided on this page reflect results from 2024. Updated data for a selection of economies and an improved methodology for the STRI is available via the Integrated Trade Information Portal (I-TIP) at https://i-tip.wto.org/services.

The Services Trade Restrictions Database (STPD) 2024, and the associated Services Trade Restrictions Index (STRI), jointly developed by the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, aims to facilitate dialogue about, and analysis of, services trade policies. The database provides comparable information on services trade policy measures across 134 economies on nine sectors (professional, computer, communications, construction, distribution, finance, health, tourism, and transport) that cover major parts of the economy, and within which policy information is available for 34 disaggregated subsectors. 

The STPD 2024 is presented and analyzed in the World Bank Policy Research Working Paper “The State of Global Services Trade Policies Evidence from Recent Data” (see “Citation” section below).

Files

• Services Trade Regulatory Dataset and list of services sectors covered
• Services Trade Restriction Index (STRI) and methodology,
• STRI Dashboard

Citation

Publications and research papers drawing upon the Services Trade Restrictions database are requested to cite it appropriately.

Users should cite the paper: Baiker et al. (2025), “The State of Global Services Trade Policies Evidence from Recent Data”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (WPS11242).

Related Papers

Below is a selection of papers and notes that have been written drawing upon the information provided by previous editions of the Services Trade Restrictions Database:

• Baiker, Borchert, Magdeleine, and Marchetti (2023), “Services Trade Policies across Africa: New Evidence for 54 Economies”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (WPS 10537)
• Baiker, Borchert, Magdeleine, Marchetti, and Mattoo (2020), “The Evolution of Services Trade Policy Since the Great Recession”, World Bank Working Paper (WPS 9265)
• Borchert et al. (2020), “Applied Services Trade Policy: A Guide to the Services Trade Policy Database and the Services Trade Restrictions Index”, World Bank Policy Working Paper (WPS 9264)
• Borchert, Gootiiz, and Mattoo (2012), “Guide to the Services Trade Restrictions Database”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (WPS6108) 
• Borchert, Gootiiz, and Mattoo (2012), "Policy Barriers To International Trade in Services: New Empirical Evidence", World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (WPS6109) 
• Borchert, Gootiiz, Grover, and Mattoo (2012), "Landlocked or Policy Locked? How Services Trade Protection Deepens Economic Isolation". World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (WPS5942)
• Martin and Mattoo (eds) (2011), ‘Unfinished Business? The WTO's Doha Agenda‘, pages 115-143, CEPR Press, Paris & London
• Gootiiz and Mattoo (2009), “Services in Doha: what's on the table”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (WPS 4909)

Acknowledgments. This was possible thanks to the joint efforts of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank, in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Trade Centre (ITC), the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the European Union (EU).

Disclaimer. Any data, comments, summaries, findings, interpretations, or conclusions expressed on this website or expressed in documents available from this website are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the Governments they represent, or any of the institutions that funded this project. We see this database as providing not a definitive picture of trade policy, but a first approximation which will through feedback from various interested parties evolve into a collectively created public good. Please send comments to the email listed above.

Last Updated: Dec 11, 2025