(All figures from the WTO unless source specified) back to top

World trade and output  
Selected Indicators, 1948-2000

a   Growth rates refer to 1950 instead of 1948.

Sources. Population: UN World Population Prospects. GDP, current: IMF World Economic Outlook. GDP, 1987 prices: World Bank and WTO. Trade: WTO International Trade Statistics

 

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World trade and output growth by sector, 2000  

(Annual percentage change in volume)

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, chart 1

  

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World exports of merchandise and commercial services, 1990?001  

(Billion dollars and percentage)

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, table 1

 

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Least-developed countries (LDCs), merchandise exports by selected country group, 1990?000  

(Billion dollars and percentage)

a   Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and Yemen.

b   Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao People’s Dem. Rep., Lesotho, Madagascar, Myanmar and Nepal.

c   Afghanistan, Burundi, Congo Dem. Rep, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Somalia.

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, table 8

 

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Developing economies trade and output growth, 1990-2000  

(Annual percentage change)

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, table 2

 

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Gulf Cooperation Council states, merchandise trade 

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, chart 9

 

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Acceding countries?merchandise trade: China, Chinese Taipei, Vanuatu 

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, chart 10

  

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GATT/WTO: 50 years of tariff reductions 

MFN tariff reduction of industrial countries for industrial products, excluding petroleum

Note: Tariff reductions for the first five trade rounds refer to US only

a Source: US Tariff Commission, Operations of the Trade Agreements Program,
1st to 13th report covering June 1934 to June 1960

b refers to four markets: US, Japan, EC(6), and UK.
Source: Ernest H Preeg, Traders and Diplomats, Tables 13-1 to 13?
and WTO calculations based on 1964 import values

c refers to eight markets: US, EU(9), Japan, Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
Source: GATT, COM.TD/W/315, 4.7.1980, p.20?1 and WTO calculations

d refers to eight markets: US, EU(12), Japan, Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
Source: GATT, The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations,
November 1994, Appendix Table 5 and WTO calculations

 

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52 years of GATT/WTO 1948-2000 

• Merchandise trade in real terms grew by 6% annually, or 22 fold.
• Merchandise output grew by 4% annually, or 7 fold.
• The ratio of goods and services to GDP rose from 8% in 1950 to 29.5% in 2000 (measured in constant 1987 prices)
• Aggregate world trade in 2000 was $7.6 trillion, of which $6.2 trillion (81%) was merchandise and $1.4 trillion (19%) was commercial services. (Merchandise trade in 1948 was $58 billion.)
• GDP per capita grew by 2% annually.
• On average, per capita income is nearly 3 times higher in 2000 than in 1948.

 

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FDI flows and global integration 

• Global FDI flows grew 53 fold (or 16% annually) between 1973 and 2000.
• Global FDI flows reached $1271 billion in 2000 ($24 billion in 1973, $60 billion in 1985).
• Global FDI inward stock rose 10 fold since 1980 or 12% annually.
• Global FDI inward stock stood at $6,310 billion in 2000.
• Cross-border mergers & acquisitions topped $1,144 billion in 2000, nearly 8 times the average of $145 billion during 1990-94.
• The ratio of FDI inward stock to GDP nearly tripled between 1980 and 2000 globally, from 6.0% to 17.3%.
• For developing countries, the corresponding ratio almost tripled from 10.2% to 28.0%.
• For least-developed countries, the ratio rose five fold from 2.8% in 1980 to 14.2% in 2000.

(Source: UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2001.)

 

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Duty-free treatment for imports from least-developed countries 

• In 2000, US imports from the 48 least-developed countries (LDCs) amounted to $8.9 billion or 0.7% of total US merchandise imports.
• If US granted duty-free treatment to imports from LDCs, the US tariff revenue loss would be $673 million out of a total US tariff revenue of $19,700 million.

(Source: US Department of Commerce.)

 

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Global benefits from 40% cuts in trade protection  
(Figures from World Bank conference paper "Agriculture & Non-Agricultural Liberalization in the Millennium Round", October 1999)

Estimated global gains as a result of 40% cuts in protection by 2005 in the following areas:

• Agricultural subsidies & market price support $69.3 billion
• Tariffs on manufactures & mining products $69.6 billion
• Business, finance & construction services $21.6 billion
• Trade, transport & government services $332.6 billion