<h3>Source</h3> <ul> <li>OECD (2005), <i><a target="NEW" href="http://www.sourceoecd.org/9264010556">OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard</a></i>, OECD, Paris.</li></ul> <h3>Further information</h3> <h4>Analytical publications</h4> <ul> <li>OECD (2001), <i><a target="NEW" href="http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2001doc.nsf/linkto/td-tc-wp(2001)44-final"> Non-Tariff Measures in the ICT Sector: A Survey</a></i>, OECD, Paris.</li> <li>OECD (2005), <i><a target="NEW" href="http://www.sourceoecd.org/9264009507">OECD Communications Outlook</a></i>, OECD, Paris.</li> <li>OECD (2005), <i><a target="NEW" href="http://www.sourceoecd.org/9264009507">OECD Information Technology Outlook</a></i>, OECD, Paris.</li> <li>OECD (2005), <i><a target="NEW" href="http://www.sourceoecd.org/9264010963">Trade and Structural Adjustment: Embracing Globalisation</a></i>, OECD, Paris.</li></ul> <h4>Statistical publications</h4> <ul> <li>OECD (2005), <i><a target="NEW" href="http://www.sourceoecd.org/periodical/itcs">International Trade by Commodity Statistics</a></i>, OECD, Paris.</li></ul> <h4>Methodological publications</h4> <ul> <li>Hatzichronoglou, T. (1997), <i><a target="NEW" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/134337307632">Revision of the High-Technology Sector and Product Classification</a></i>, OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, No. 1997/2, OECD, Paris.</li></ul> <h4>Web sites</h4> <ul> <li>OECD International Trade portal, <i><a target="NEW" href="http://www.oecd.org/std/its/">www.oecd.org/std/its/</a></i>.</li> <li>OECD Science, Technology and Industry, <i><a target="NEW" href="http://www.oecd.org/sti">www.oecd.org/sti</a></i>.</li></ul>

<h2>Long-term trends</h2> <p>Industries of high and medium-high-technology intensity accounted for over two-thirds of total OECD manufacturing exports in 2003. Differences among countries are substantial; the share of high and medium-high-technology industries ranges from over 80% in Japan and Ireland to less than 10% in Iceland.</p> <p>High-technology industries accounted for over 50% of all manufacturing exports in Ireland, and for over 30% of exports in Switzerland, Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hungary and the Netherlands. In Japan and Germany, medium-high-technology industries accounted for the bulk of total exports.</p> <p>Technology exports grew very rapidly in Iceland, Turkey and the eastern European countries, although most of these countries, with Hungary and the Czech Republic as exceptions, still focus primarily on low and medium-low-technology exports. The shares in total OECD technology exports of Mexico, Ireland, Belgium and Korea have increased considerably, at the expense of the United States, Japan and the large European technology suppliers. With almost 17% of total OECD technology exports, Germany had the largest share of the technology market in 2003, closely followed by the United States.</p>

<h2>Definition</h2> <p>The OECD has developed a four-way classification of exports - high, medium-high, medium-low and low-technology. The classification is based on the importance of expenditures on research and development relative to the gross output and value added of different types of industries that produce goods for export. Examples of <i>high-technology</i> industries are aircraft, computers, and pharmaceuticals; <i>medium-high-technology</i> includes motor vehicles, electrical equipment and most chemicals; <i>medium-low-technology</i> includes rubber, plastics, basic metals and ship construction; <i>low-technology</i> industries include food processing, textiles, clothing and footwear.</p>

<h2>Comparability</h2> <p>The methodology to define industries according to their level of technology was developed by the OECD Secretariat at the beginning of the 1980s and this methodology was adopted by member countries and other international organisations. For more details concerning definition and comparability see the methodological publications below.</p> <p>OECD total excludes Czech Republic, Korea, Luxembourg and Slovak Republic. EU15 excludes Luxembourg.</p>

<p>Technology-intensive exports, and high-technology exports in particular, accounted for much of the growth in trade over the past decade. In all OECD countries, they grew more rapidly than total manufacturing exports. Japan is the only country in which total manufacturing exports grew faster over the 1994-2003 period than high-technology exports.</p>