International Economics Consulting (IEC) conducted the study Paperless Trade 2.0: Quantifying the Commonwealth’s Trade Advantage for the Commonwealth Secretariat. The study provides new quantitative evidence on the economic benefits of moving from paper-based to digital trade processes across Commonwealth countries. It examines progress in cross-border paperless trade, assesses countries’ readiness and quantifies the potential economic gains from continued digitalisation.
IEC’s team combined econometric gravity modelling with computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis to assess the trade and wider economic implications of digitalisation across countries, regions and sectors.
The findings underline the importance of digital trade infrastructure, modern legal and regulatory frameworks, secure and interoperable systems, and capacity-building to reduce trade costs and strengthen competitiveness.
Key findings:
- US$183 billion in additional Commonwealth exports could be generated by 2030 through continued progress in paperless trade, compared with the study’s baseline.
- Each one-point improvement in a country’s Digital Trade Facilitation score is associated with an estimated 1% increase in total exports.
- The average implementation rate of cross-border paperless trade measures across Commonwealth countries rose from 23% in 2019 to 45% in 2025.
The report was prepared by the IEC team: Paul Baker, Neetish Hurry, David Vanzetti, and Loan Le, with valuable support from Akshay Bholee and David Jolicoeur. The team also thanks Niels Strazdins and Rajiv Babooram for their guidance from the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Read the full report here.
