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value reaching $335.5 billion in 2005. This upward trend is likely to continue throughout
the decade, given the positive prospects for global demand.
Figure 5 : Considerable increase in exports of creative goods
Sources: UNCTAD
A surge in exports of creative goods from developing countries
Until recently OECD countries have dominated both export and import flows.
However
year after year developing countries have increased their share in world markets for
creative products and their exports have risen faster than those from developed countries.
The exports of creative goods from developing economies accounted for 20 per cent of
world exports of creative goods in 1996 but reached 42 percent in 2005.
Developing-country exports of related creative goods increased by 143 per cent over the
period 1996-2005 from $56 billion to $136 billion
. For instance exports from the music
industry jumped latterly from $222 to $1,412 million. However, this significant growth
includes and reflects the remarkable increase in production and trade of Chinese creative
goods which account for 19% of the total export flow. Indeed, China became the world’s
leading exporting country of creative goods in 2005 benefiting from greater
competitiveness of these creative good and services in world market over the last decade.
This spectacular trend in growth is indicative of the catching-up strategies being pursued
in a number of developing countries
. The increase in the export performance of China
over the ten year was remarkable, from $18.4 billion in 1996 to $61.3 billion in 2005.
Asian economies accounted for more than three quarters of total exports of creative
goods from economies of the South. In Latin America and the Caribbean, exports of
creative goods more than doubled from $3.5 billion to $8.6 billion mainly due to Mexico
performance and which rank among the top ten exporters in the world.