News

• Services are now a key source of growth and jobs in least developed countries.
• Most service jobs remain low-productivity and informal, limiting income gains.
• Weak links to industry, exports and technology hold back development impact.
• Without targeted policies, service-led growth risks reinforcing existing inequalities.
• Skills, digital infrastructure and productive linkages are critical to unlocking better jobs.

By Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs

The calendar helps policymakers, researchers and businesses plan ahead by signalling when new, reliable statistics will be available.

Over one in eight dollars earned from trade in goods comes from information communications technologies, with 80% produced in Asia. Growth is driven by surging trade in electronic components.

A UN Trade and Development report shows data centres captured more than one fifth of global greenfield investment in 2025.

Themed “Investing in the Future”, the forum will examine how investment and finance systems must evolve in response to geopolitical fragmentation, climate urgency and rapid technological change.

FDI surged in developed economies but declined in developing countries, becoming increasingly concentrated in capital-intensive sectors such as data centres.

• Foreign direct investment rose 14% in 2025 to $1.6 trillion, rebounding after two weak years.
• Most of the increase came from financial flows through global hubs, not new productive investment.
• FDI to developed economies surged, while flows to developing countries declined.
• Investment is becoming more concentrated in a few capital-intensive sectors such as data centres.
• Underlying investment activity critical for development remains fragile.

Slower growth, rising protectionism and structural shifts in value chains, services and regulation are redefining trade flows, creating new risks and opportunities.

Geopolitical tensions, trade policy shifts and weak investment continue to dampen momentum, with high debt and persistent cost pressures posing particular challenges for developing economies.