Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade, 2009 Annual Report focuses principally on professional services (advertising, education, healthcare, and legal services), which provide critical inputs to various goods and service industries, as well as specialized services directly to individual consumers. The largest professional service firms in terms of revenue are located in developed countries and offer their services across the globe through both cross-border trade and affiliate transactions. The markets of many developing countries are growing rapidly and offer larger professional service firms significant merger, acquisition, and investment opportunities. U.S. services overall, and professional services in particular, grew faster in 2007 in terms of contribution to gross domestic product, employment, and cross-border exports than the average annual rate of the preceding five-year period. Services supplied to foreign consumers by foreign-based affiliates of U.S. firms, including those in professional services, also experienced recent strong growth.