The Belgian economy in global value chains. An exploratory analysis

Data on global value chains are shedding new light on foreign trade. Since exports largely rely on intermediate imports, breaking up exports into foreign and domestic value-added content allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the foreign trade and the national accounts statistics. After describing the conceptual framework, the paper presents some exploratory findings on the Belgian economy. Most notably, it stresses that re-exportation of merchandise and the value added content provided by service sectors are of great importance for industrial exports. The analysis also makes it possible to better identify the initial origin of inputs used in goods manufactured for export as well as the goods’ final destination.