Sourcing refers to the total or partial movement of core or support business functions of a resident enterprise currently performed in-house to either non-affiliated (external suppliers) or affiliated enterprises located either domestically or abroad.
International sourcing is sourcing to affiliated or non-affiliated enterprises located abroad. This definition excludes, however, the movement of core or support business functions abroad without a reduction of activity and/or jobs in the enterprise concerned - for example, if a new production line is set up abroad without reductions, even if the line also could have been set up in the country for which statistics are compiled, then this does not constitute international sourcing. International sourcing is sometimes also called off-shoring, near-shoring, delocalisation or outsourcing.