Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Statistics Department - External Statistics Division
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Banco de Portugal, Statistics Department, External Statistics Division, Avenida Álvaro Pais 2, 1600-007 Lisboa, Portugal
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
19 December 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
19 December 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
19 December 2025
3.1. Data description
Statistics on international supply of services (ISS) by modes of supply (MoS) show how and where services are supplied internationally, namely by answering the question of 'how' services are exchanged across countries and 'where' services are supplied to foreign customers. Detailed information on international supply of services statistics by services category, mode of supply and partner country help policymakers carry out the ongoing and future trade negotiating agenda with facts and strong, evidence-based arguments and they allow to monitor the impact of services trade agreements.
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the first multilateral agreement to cover trade in services, defines trade in services as the supply of a service through any of four modes of supply, outlined in the bullet points below.
Mode 1 - cross-border supply: from the territory of one country into the territory of another country;
Mode 2 - consumption abroad: in the territory of one country to the service consumer of another country;
Mode 3 - commercial presence: by a service supplier of one country, through a commercial presence in the territory of another country. The FATS framework is designed to provide information on the activities of enterprises located in foreign markets;
Mode 4 - presence of natural persons: by a service supplier of one country, through the presence of natural persons of that country in the territory of any other country.
Table 1. Product breakdown by EBOPS 2010 main and detailed components, and complementary groupings
EBOPS 2010 Main Components
EBOPS 2010 Detailed components
1. Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others
2. Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.
Optional: 2.a Of which: goods
3. Transport
Optional: Valuation of freight transport services on a transaction-basis
3.1. Sea transport
3.2. Air transport
3.3. Other modes of transport
3.4. Postal and courier services
4. Travel
4.a. Of which: goods
5. Construction
5.a. Of which: goods
6. Insurance and pension services
7. Financial services
8. Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e.
9. Telecommunications, computer, and information services
9.1. Telecommunications services
9.2. Computer services
9.3. Information services
10. Other business services
10.1. Research and development services
10.2. Professional and management consulting services
Optional items:
10.2.1. Legal, accounting, management consulting, and public relations services;
10.2.2. Advertising, market research, and public opinion polling services
10.3. Technical, trade-related, and other business services
Optional items:
10.3.1. Architectural, engineering, scientific, and other technical services;
10.3.2. Waste treatment and de-pollution, agricultural and mining services;
10.3.3. Operating leasing services;
10.3.4. Trade-related services;
10.3.5. Other business services n.i.e.
11. Personal, cultural and recreational services
11.1. Audiovisual and related services
11.2. Other personal, cultural and recreational services
12. Government goods and services, n.i.e
12.a Of which goods
EBOPS 2010 complementary grouping C. Total trade-related transactions (optional item) C.a Trade-related services (item 10.3.4 – optional item) C.b Distribution services
Product breakdown according to CPA classification is voluntary.
Mode of supply breakdown is defined in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, Annex VI, Section 2: — Total international supply of services (total of modes 1, 2, 3 and 4) — Mode 1 (‘cross border transactions’), — Mode 2 (‘consumption abroad’), — Mode 3 (‘commercial presence’), and — Mode 4 (‘presence of natural persons’).
3.5. Statistical unit
Not applicable.
3.6. Statistical population
Total international supply of services by all four modes of supply.
3.7. Reference area
Portugal (includes the autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira). This concept identifies the reference area for the time series encoded using the relevant code list of the DSD. The reference area is a country for which MoS statistics are provided. The country code list follows the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 classification and is a cross-domain code list, used also in business statistics, balance of payment and national accounts.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The first reference period is 2023.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Data are reported in national currency (thousands).
Eurostat disseminates data in million euro.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics sets the data requirements in the field of international supply of services by modes for the EU Member States and EFTA countries. The exact technical specifications are listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197. The requirements concerning the MoS domain are defined in table 38 "Statistics on international activities – International Supply of Services by Mode of Supply – annual data" of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197. The variable must be reported annually with first reference year 2023.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Besides rules deriving from the statistical law, Banco de Portugal established memorandums of understanding with several public institutions to have access to data exclusively for statistical purposes, in particular INE - Statistics Portugal.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
The confidenciality of individual data is explicitly stated at article 80 of decree-law n.º 298/92, of December 31, on credit institutions and financial institutions which also aplies to Banco de Portugal. Further the national statistical law (law nº 22/2008, of May 13) also describes procedures which should be taken to comply with the principle of statistical secrecy.
The Banco de Portugal internal code of conduct also provides reassurance of the compliance of these principles.
Besides the statistical compilation is also governed by European Regulation (EC) n.º 2533/98 of November 23, with modifications of Regulation (EC) n.º 951/2009 of October 9. Individual data protection is also established by an ECB Guideline (BCE/1998/NP28).
Furthermore, Banco de Portugal has in place security measures to access its permises as well as to its IT infraestructure in order to prevent access to non-public information.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Chapter V ‘Statistical confidentiality’ of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics regulates protection and transmission of confidential data within the European Statistical System (ESS) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Article 10 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197215 says: ‘Member States shall provide all levels of aggregation of the breakdowns as defined in the tables of Annex I, Part B and the data transmitted shall contain, where applicable, all primary and secondary confidentiality flags in accordance with the confidentiality rules existing at national level.’. The confidentiality status allocation is mandatory in the MoS domain and therefore each observation must be flagged with a confidentiality status from the following list: F – Free (free for publication); N – Not for publication, restricted for internal use only; C – Confidential statistical information; D – Secondary confidentiality set by the sender, not for publication; S – Secondary confidentiality set and managed by the receiver, not for publication.
Primary confidentiality refers to the protection of sensitive statistical information to prevent the identification of individual enterprises within a published observation. For the Portuguese MoS submission, confidentiality checks were applied to ensure that ‘Free’ cells meets both of the following conditions: (1) at least three distinct enterprises contribute to the value of the observation (minimum contributor rule); and (2) no single enterprise accounts for more than 85% of the total value of that observation (dominance rule). Observations that do not satisfy these criteria are classified as ‘Confidential statistical information’ to prevent disclosure of enterprise‑level information.
Secondary confidentiality refers to the additional protection applied to published data to prevent the indirect disclosure of information that has already been classified as confidential under primary confidentiality rules, ensuring that confidential enterprise‑level information cannot be inferred from totals, subtotals, or other related breakdowns. For the Portuguese MoS submission, the secondary confidentiality treatment is ensured by Eurostat.
BoP/IIP statistics are subjected to several levels of quality assessment and monitoring:
Internal quality control of the data;
Internal checks on the validity and plausibility of the compiled data;
Monthly discussion within Banco de Portugal;
Regular meetings with reporting agents;
Continuous training;
Quality assessments made by international organizations: ECB, Eurostat, etc;
Data used in the compilation of national accounts;
Monitoring of the data by the internal Statistical Quality Unit;
Statistical compilation process subject to planned audit revisions made by BdP’s Internal Audit Department and by IO, namely the ECB.
11.1. Quality assurance
Banco de Portugal acknowledges that quality is a cornerstone of statistical work. For more details, please see 10.7.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
In general, according to the information available from the quality reports, the data providers have applied the recommendations available in the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Statistics on services supplied through modes os supply (MoS) are used for economic analysis and economic policy, as they provide a more complete picture of how businesses supply and purchase services internationally, by combining services traded across the border (between residents and non-residents) with services supplied via foreign affiliates. Detailed information on international supply of services statistics by services category, mode of supply and partner country helps policymakers carry out the ongoing and future trade negotiating agenda with facts and strong, evidence-based arguments. Statistics by MoS show how and where services are supplied internationally, and they allow for the impact of services trade agreements to be monitored.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
No user satisfaction measures exist for the moment.
12.3. Completeness
Banco de Portugal compiles or aquires all data foreseen in the MoS requirements.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
100%.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
In the specific case of MoS, revisions will match eventual revisions of the Balance of Payments. They will also incorporate newer information available in the TEC and SBS datasets, as well as uptaded information on the share of goods in the SD and SL international accounting items which is provided by the Portuguese NSI.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable as the compilation is based on censitary information.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not applicable.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Measurement error is minimized through several controls.
Compilation of BoP uses a very diverse set of data sources, though the COPE (Communication of external transactions and positions) report is the dedicated source for this domain.
The data received is analysed by BdP's team and reporting agents are questioned whenever data does not seem to be completely correct or when major transactions exist, in order to gather additional information on the underlying operations.
Furthermore, in order to reach final outputs, all sources have to be reconciled, which also contributes to minimize misclassifications and other errors. As some sources have longer disclosure delays this can lead to revisions which follow the Banco de Portugal revision policy.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
Not applicable.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
This concept defines the reported breakdown and provides information for the attributes of the MoS data tables:
MOD124 – for modes 1, 2 and 4 with deadline of T+10 months;
MOD3TOT – for Mode 3 and total international supply of services (total of modes 1, 2, 3 and 4) with deadline of T+22 months;
MODALL – for modes 1, 2, 3, 4 and total international supply of services (total of modes 1, 2, 3 and 4) with deadline of T+22 months (relevant for Mode 3 and total of modes).
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Portugal fully complies with international reporting calendars.
14.2. Punctuality
Portugal fully complies with international reporting calendars.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Banco de Portugal applies methodologies aligned with the international manuals and which are consistent over time.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Banco de Portugal applies methodologies aligned with the international manuals and which are consistent over time.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Not applicable.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Integrity rules for the ISS total is checked. The consistency of all series in the transmitted file is checked. Consistency with BOP Services Account is also checked.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
MoS has a set of integrity rules to ensure the internal consistency of data, namely on the following dimensions: product breakdown; mode of supply; counterpart area. All these integrity rules are checked.
Banco de Portugal always assumes a strategy to have quality statistics in an efficient manner, minimizing costs for both reportants and for the compilation procedure. For the moment, the standard Eurostat-WTO model is directly applied.
In the specific case of MoS, revisions will match eventual revisions of the Balance of Payments. They will also incorporate newer information available in the TEC and SBS datasets, as well as uptaded information on the share of goods in the SD and SL international accounting items which is provided by the Portuguese NSI.
As the main source for MoS is the same that the one for BoP, for more information on the source data of BoP credits and debits total amounts, see Related metadata. Other data sources include the Portuguese NSI, from which the goods value in international accounting items SD and SL was obtained, as well as IFATS data and the turnover and output values for MoS 3. OFATS data, compiled at Banco de Portugal, is also a relevant data source. Additionally, the TEC and SBS datasets were used to obtain the value of distribution services and the Tourism Sattelite Account for the share of domestic tourism expenditure. All sources follow the recomendations of the European business statistics compilers guide for European statistics on international supply of services by mode of supply – 2023 edition (see 10.6.).
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
The categories of services used to compile the MoS report refer to the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS 2010) data collection. The EBOPS 2010 classification provides a breakdown of the Balance of Payments Trade in Services items (debit and credit) as defined in BPM6, by types of services. The classification thereby meets a number of user requirements, including the provision of more detailed information on Trade in services as required in connection with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
EBOPS 2010 is a primarily product-based classification of types of services, which in many cases may be described in terms of international classification of products as contained in CPC Ver. 2. However, the classification also includes transaction-based criteria (for example, Travel, Government services, and Construction Services).
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the first multilateral agreement to cover trade in services, defines trade in services as the supply of a service through any of four modes of supply (see 3.1.).
The integrity rules applied by Eurostat, as presented in MoS compilers guide, are replicated at the internal level in order to guarantee the consistency and accuracy of data. Moreover, several validation processes are in place to guarantee the quality of the submitted information.
18.5. Data compilation
Compilation results from running procedures to gather and aggregate the data from all sources available for each item. Each item is compiled according to the best information to our knowledge and, besides raw data made available to the team, it also encompasses discussions with colleagues from other statistical domains, and with reporting units. With regards to the inclusion of the distribution services and exclusion of goods parts in total ISS, the recommendations of the European business statistics compilers guide for European statistics on international supply of services by mode of supply – 2023 edition are followed. Namely, the goods value in international accounting items SD and SL is removed, based on data from the Portuguese NSI, and distribution services are included using the TEC and SBS datasets as sources.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applicable.
18.6. Adjustment
No adjustment is done to compilation outputs.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
Related Metadata:
See metadata of “Balance of payments - International transactions (BPM6) (bop_6)” (18.1.) for more information on the source data of BoP statistics.
See metadata of “Balance of payments - International transactions (BPM6) (bop_6)” (13.1.) for more information on the overall accuracy of BoP statistics.
Statistics on international supply of services (ISS) by modes of supply (MoS) show how and where services are supplied internationally, namely by answering the question of 'how' services are exchanged across countries and 'where' services are supplied to foreign customers. Detailed information on international supply of services statistics by services category, mode of supply and partner country help policymakers carry out the ongoing and future trade negotiating agenda with facts and strong, evidence-based arguments and they allow to monitor the impact of services trade agreements.
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the first multilateral agreement to cover trade in services, defines trade in services as the supply of a service through any of four modes of supply, outlined in the bullet points below.
Mode 1 - cross-border supply: from the territory of one country into the territory of another country;
Mode 2 - consumption abroad: in the territory of one country to the service consumer of another country;
Mode 3 - commercial presence: by a service supplier of one country, through a commercial presence in the territory of another country. The FATS framework is designed to provide information on the activities of enterprises located in foreign markets;
Mode 4 - presence of natural persons: by a service supplier of one country, through the presence of natural persons of that country in the territory of any other country.
Table 1. Product breakdown by EBOPS 2010 main and detailed components, and complementary groupings
EBOPS 2010 Main Components
EBOPS 2010 Detailed components
1. Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others
2. Maintenance and repair services n.i.e.
Optional: 2.a Of which: goods
3. Transport
Optional: Valuation of freight transport services on a transaction-basis
3.1. Sea transport
3.2. Air transport
3.3. Other modes of transport
3.4. Postal and courier services
4. Travel
4.a. Of which: goods
5. Construction
5.a. Of which: goods
6. Insurance and pension services
7. Financial services
8. Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e.
9. Telecommunications, computer, and information services
9.1. Telecommunications services
9.2. Computer services
9.3. Information services
10. Other business services
10.1. Research and development services
10.2. Professional and management consulting services
Optional items:
10.2.1. Legal, accounting, management consulting, and public relations services;
10.2.2. Advertising, market research, and public opinion polling services
10.3. Technical, trade-related, and other business services
Optional items:
10.3.1. Architectural, engineering, scientific, and other technical services;
10.3.2. Waste treatment and de-pollution, agricultural and mining services;
10.3.3. Operating leasing services;
10.3.4. Trade-related services;
10.3.5. Other business services n.i.e.
11. Personal, cultural and recreational services
11.1. Audiovisual and related services
11.2. Other personal, cultural and recreational services
12. Government goods and services, n.i.e
12.a Of which goods
EBOPS 2010 complementary grouping C. Total trade-related transactions (optional item) C.a Trade-related services (item 10.3.4 – optional item) C.b Distribution services
Product breakdown according to CPA classification is voluntary.
Mode of supply breakdown is defined in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, Annex VI, Section 2: — Total international supply of services (total of modes 1, 2, 3 and 4) — Mode 1 (‘cross border transactions’), — Mode 2 (‘consumption abroad’), — Mode 3 (‘commercial presence’), and — Mode 4 (‘presence of natural persons’).
Not applicable.
Total international supply of services by all four modes of supply.
Portugal (includes the autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira). This concept identifies the reference area for the time series encoded using the relevant code list of the DSD. The reference area is a country for which MoS statistics are provided. The country code list follows the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 classification and is a cross-domain code list, used also in business statistics, balance of payment and national accounts.
Calendar year.
In the specific case of MoS, revisions will match eventual revisions of the Balance of Payments. They will also incorporate newer information available in the TEC and SBS datasets, as well as uptaded information on the share of goods in the SD and SL international accounting items which is provided by the Portuguese NSI.
Data are reported in national currency (thousands).
Eurostat disseminates data in million euro.
Compilation results from running procedures to gather and aggregate the data from all sources available for each item. Each item is compiled according to the best information to our knowledge and, besides raw data made available to the team, it also encompasses discussions with colleagues from other statistical domains, and with reporting units. With regards to the inclusion of the distribution services and exclusion of goods parts in total ISS, the recommendations of the European business statistics compilers guide for European statistics on international supply of services by mode of supply – 2023 edition are followed. Namely, the goods value in international accounting items SD and SL is removed, based on data from the Portuguese NSI, and distribution services are included using the TEC and SBS datasets as sources.
As the main source for MoS is the same that the one for BoP, for more information on the source data of BoP credits and debits total amounts, see Related metadata. Other data sources include the Portuguese NSI, from which the goods value in international accounting items SD and SL was obtained, as well as IFATS data and the turnover and output values for MoS 3. OFATS data, compiled at Banco de Portugal, is also a relevant data source. Additionally, the TEC and SBS datasets were used to obtain the value of distribution services and the Tourism Sattelite Account for the share of domestic tourism expenditure. All sources follow the recomendations of the European business statistics compilers guide for European statistics on international supply of services by mode of supply – 2023 edition (see 10.6.).
Annual.
This concept defines the reported breakdown and provides information for the attributes of the MoS data tables:
MOD124 – for modes 1, 2 and 4 with deadline of T+10 months;
MOD3TOT – for Mode 3 and total international supply of services (total of modes 1, 2, 3 and 4) with deadline of T+22 months;
MODALL – for modes 1, 2, 3, 4 and total international supply of services (total of modes 1, 2, 3 and 4) with deadline of T+22 months (relevant for Mode 3 and total of modes).
Banco de Portugal applies methodologies aligned with the international manuals and which are consistent over time.
Banco de Portugal applies methodologies aligned with the international manuals and which are consistent over time.
