Importance of transport services in the Polish balance of payments against the background of trends in international trade

Abstract

The paper examines the size and structure of global trade in services and their share in Poland’s balance of payments. Particular attention was paid to export and import of transport services. The main purpose of the paper was to prove the importance of transport services in Polish foreign trade. Statistical data on Polish and world trade were analysed to achieve this goal. In addition, descriptive methods (analysis of literature) as well as general research methods and principles of scientific reasoning were used. The conducted research allowed to state that both in world trade and in Polish foreign trade the share of services increases, while the share of services in the Polish foreign trade turnover is by a few percent lower than the world average. It was also indicated that, in contrast to the trends in world trade, there was an increase in export and import of transport services in Poland. The balance of transport services in the Polish balance of payments is positive. The surplus of export over the import of road transport services constitutes a major contribution to the good result. This proves that Polish road transport is highly competitive.