World Trade Organisation (WTO) pegged World Trade Growth at 3.7 per cent for 2012

World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 11 April 2012 pegged world trade growth at 3.7 per cent for 2012 thereby projecting a further slowdown in world trade. World trade expanded by a mere 5 per cent in 2011 a sharp deceleration from the 2010 rebound of 13.8 per cent. The WTO expects trade to recover by 2013 and result in additional growth of 5.6 percent.

The dollar value of world merchandise trade in 2011 increased 19 percent to $18.2 trillion thus surpassing 2008 peak of $16.1 trillion due to higher commodity prices.

According to the WTO, the slowdown of the global economy due to a number of shocks including the European sovereign debt crisis resulted in the dip in the trade figures. Multiple economic setbacks during 2011 further dampened growth and led to a stronger than anticipated easing in the fourth quarter.

Asia recorded the strongest growth in exports (6.6 percent), on account of a leap of 16.1 percent in India and 9.3 percent in China.
India recorded exports growth of 16 per cent in 2011, the fastest in the world in volume terms in 2011. China had the second-fastest export growth of many major economies at 9.3 per cent. India also emerged as the second-fastest importer after China growing at 6 per cent in 2011.

However according to the Commerce Ministry data, while, Indian exports increased the fastest in the world in volume terms, in terms of dollar realisation, the growth slowed down since August 2011. The weak import demand from the Europe and the U.S. adversely affected the emerging and developing countries such as India. The U.S. and the European Union together account for nearly 35 per cent of India's exports of $245.9 billion in 2010-11.

In the report released by the WTO on 11 April 2012, developed countries actually exceeded export expectations with growth of 4.7 percent, driven by a 7.2 percent rise in exports from the United States. However, the 5.4 percent growth rate recorded among developing countries was lower than anticipated as they were hit by an interruption in oil supplies during the Libyan conflict and the Japanese earthquake disrupted supply chains.