The services sector played a significant role in supporting the growth of Hong Kong's external trade, the value of export of services reached 669 billion HK dollars (86 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009, representing an average annual growth rate of 9.2 percent over 1999, said the Census & Statistics Department on Tuesday.

In 2009, exports of trade-related services represented the most important major service group, contributing 30.2 percent to the value of total exports of services. It was followed by exports of transportation services and travel services, contributing 29 percent and 19.1 percent respectively to the value of total exports of services in 2009.

In 1999, the respective percentage shares of these three major service groups in the total value of exports of services were 29.5 percent, 32.3 percent and 15.5 percent respectively.

The services sector also became the principal source of employment. In 2009, the services sector as a whole engaged 3.1 million persons out of the 3.5 million overall employment, said the department.

During the decade from 1999 to 2008, the services sector in the Hong Kong economy gained greater prominence. This change was reflected in the share of contribution of the services sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The contribution of the services sector to GDP increased from 86.1 percent in 1999 to 92.0 percent in 2008, according to the department.

While the services sector registered an increase in the share of the GDP over the period from 1999 to 2008, the relative importance of the manufacturing sector declined correspondingly, as reflected by its contribution to the GDP, which went down from 5.3 percent in 1999 to 2.5 percent in 2008.