Merchandise trade growth slows in the first half of 2022 and will slow further in the second half of 2022.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) recently said in a statistical report that the growth of world merchandise trade slowed in the first half of 2022 due to the ongoing impact of the war in Ukraine, high inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic. By the second quarter of 2022, the growth rate had fallen to 4.4 percent year-on-year, and growth is expected to slow in the second half of the year. As the global economy slows, growth is expected to slow in 2023.
World merchandise trade volumes and real gross domestic product (GDP) rebounded strongly in 2021 after declining in 2020 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The volume of goods traded in 2021 grew by 9.7%, while GDP at market exchange rates grew by 5.9%.
Trade in goods and business services both grew at double-digit rates in nominal dollar terms in the first half of the year. In value terms, goods exports rose 17 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier.
Trade in goods saw a strong recovery in 2021 as demand for imported goods continued to rebound from the downturn triggered by the 2020 pandemic. However, supply chain disruptions put increasing pressure on growth during the year.
With the increase in goods trade in 2021, world GDP grew by 5.8% at market exchange rates, well above the average growth rate of 3% in 2010-19. In 2021, world trade will grow at about 1.7 times the rate of world GDP.
Post time: Dec-12-2022