The increasing share of low-value transactions in international trade

Abstract

This paper documents a new feature of international trade: the increase in the share of low-value transactions in the total volume of transactions. Using Spanish data, we show that the share of low-value transactions in the total number of transactions increased from 9% to 61% in exports and from 14% to 54% in imports between 1997 and 2023. The increase in the number of low-value trade transactions is explained by the rise of e-commerce and direct-to-customer sales facilitated by online retail platforms, and the fast-fashion strategy followed by clothing firms.