World Trade to grow by 4.7 percent in 2014: WTO

World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 14 April 2014 projected that the world trade will grow by 4.7 percent in 2014. It also projected that the growth in 2015 will slightly be faster at 5.3 percent, which is 20 year average growth rate.

The growth percent of 2014 is more than double of what was achieved in 2013 (2.2 percent). In 2013, the trade growth rate was slow due to a combination of flat import demand in developed economies and moderate import growth in developing economies. On the export side, both developed and developing economies only managed to record small, positive increase.

Highlights
• The trade forecast for 2014 has been upgraded to 4.7 percent from 4.5 percent and 5.3 percent increase in trade is forecasted for 2015.
• In 2013, Asia recorded the fastest GDP growth at 4.2 percent, which was almost equal to growth in the previous two years. It was followed by Africa (3.8 percent), Middle East (3.0 percent), South and Central America (also 3.0 percent), the Commonwealth of Independent States (2.0 percent), North America (1.8 percent) and Europe (0.3 percent).
• In 2013, World merchandise trade grew 2.1 percent in volume terms, very close to the 2.3 percent increase from the previous year.
• The rise in financial market volatility was most keenly felt in emerging markets with large current account deficits. This especially true in India, where output growth from 2.6 percent in the second quarter to 7.2 percent in the third and then 3.9 percent in the fourth.
• In 2013, exports of Asia grew faster than any other region, with a 4.6 percent rise that is followed by North America and Europe.
• Imports are growing faster in Asia (4.4 percent) followed by the Middle East, Africa, North America and Europe. China’s purchases from abroad jumped nearly 10 percent.
• India suffered a sharp drop of 2.9 percent in its imports due to its economic slowdown. The exports of India fall short of the targets of 325 billion dollars in 2013-14 and touched 312 billion dollars.