World trade volume growth to dip in 2019: WTO

04 Apr '19

2 min read

Pic: WTO

Growth in global trade volumes is likely to slow down to 2.6 per cent in 2019 compared to 3 per cent last year due to rising trade tensions between major economic powers and increased economic uncertainty, says a recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) report. Trade growth could then rebound to 3 per cent in 2020, but only if trade tensions ease, it said.

World GDP growth is expected to decline from 2.9 per cent in 2018 to 2.6 per cent in both 2019 and 2020, the report said.

“Trade growth in 2018 was weighed down by several factors, including new tariffs and retaliatory measures affecting widely traded goods, weaker global economic growth, volatility in financial markets and tighter monetary conditions in developed countries, among others,” it said.

Trade growth in 2020 is expected to outpace gross domestic product growth due to faster growth in developing economies, it said.

The value of merchandise trade was up 10 per cent to $19.48 trillion in 2018, partly due to higher energy prices. The value of commercial services trade rose 8 per cent to $5.80 trillion in 2018, driven by strong import growth in Asia, the report said.

India recorded double-digit growth in commercial services trade on both the export side (11 per cent) and the import side (14 per cent), it added. (DS)

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