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THE WORLD’S LEADING TRADING NATIONS
22 Apr 2015 Mark Thirlwell
The WTO recently released some new data on world trade. Among other things, these numbers provide an interesting snapshot of the world’s leading trading nations in 2014.
Last year, China was the world's largest merchandise trader, with combined exports and imports worth US$4,303 billion. The United States was close behind in second place, with total trade worth US$4,032 billion, followed by Germany (US$2,728 billion).1
China was the world’s largest exporter of goods in 2014, accounting for more than 12 per cent of total exports. The United States was the world’s largest importer, with an almost 13 per cent share.
Turning to trade in commercial services, the United States was by far the world’s largest trader in 2014, with total trade worth US$1,140 billion.2 China was in second spot with US$604 billion of trade, and Germany was third, with US$594 billion.
The United States was both the largest exporter (14.1 per cent of world exports) and importer (9.6 per cent) of commercial services.
The WTO also provided an update on its views on the overall performance of world trade, which offer a nice complement to some of the IMF work I’ve highlighted recently. It starts by noting that, on its numbers, world merchandise trade volumes rose by just 2.8 per cent last year, making 2014 the third consecutive year in which global trade expanded by less than three per cent. Indeed, with trade growth averaging just 2.4 per cent over 2012-2014, that’s the slowest rate on record for a three year period when trade was still expanding (that is, excluding years like 1975 and 2009 when world trade actually declined).
WTO economists now expect a gradual increase in merchandise trade volumes over 2015 and 2016, forecasting growth of 3.3 per cent this year and four per cent in 2016.
Like the IMF, the WTO also notes the shift in the relationship between world trade growth and world GDP growth, and canvasses some of the same potential explanations (including adverse global economic conditions, the maturation of global value chains, and a rise in protectionism) although it also points out that it’s normal for world trade to grow slowly ‘for a time’ after a major global economic shock, pointing to the experiences of the oil crises of the 1970s and the early 1980s.
1 Note that these numbers include intra-EU trade and treat EU members as separate trading entities. The WTO also presents an alternative tabulation which excludes all intra-EU trade and treats the EU as a single trader.
22 Apr 2015 Mark Thirlwell
The WTO recently released some new data on world trade. Among other things, these numbers provide an interesting snapshot of the world’s leading trading nations in 2014.
Last year, China was the world's largest merchandise trader, with combined exports and imports worth US$4,303 billion. The United States was close behind in second place, with total trade worth US$4,032 billion, followed by Germany (US$2,728 billion).1
China was the world’s largest exporter of goods in 2014, accounting for more than 12 per cent of total exports. The United States was the world’s largest importer, with an almost 13 per cent share.
Turning to trade in commercial services, the United States was by far the world’s largest trader in 2014, with total trade worth US$1,140 billion.2 China was in second spot with US$604 billion of trade, and Germany was third, with US$594 billion.
The United States was both the largest exporter (14.1 per cent of world exports) and importer (9.6 per cent) of commercial services.
The WTO also provided an update on its views on the overall performance of world trade, which offer a nice complement to some of the IMF work I’ve highlighted recently. It starts by noting that, on its numbers, world merchandise trade volumes rose by just 2.8 per cent last year, making 2014 the third consecutive year in which global trade expanded by less than three per cent. Indeed, with trade growth averaging just 2.4 per cent over 2012-2014, that’s the slowest rate on record for a three year period when trade was still expanding (that is, excluding years like 1975 and 2009 when world trade actually declined).
WTO economists now expect a gradual increase in merchandise trade volumes over 2015 and 2016, forecasting growth of 3.3 per cent this year and four per cent in 2016.
Like the IMF, the WTO also notes the shift in the relationship between world trade growth and world GDP growth, and canvasses some of the same potential explanations (including adverse global economic conditions, the maturation of global value chains, and a rise in protectionism) although it also points out that it’s normal for world trade to grow slowly ‘for a time’ after a major global economic shock, pointing to the experiences of the oil crises of the 1970s and the early 1980s.
1 Note that these numbers include intra-EU trade and treat EU members as separate trading entities. The WTO also presents an alternative tabulation which excludes all intra-EU trade and treats the EU as a single trader.
