Merchandise trade, as measured by the average of exports and imports, recorded 1.0% growth in the first quarter, according to figures compiled by the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Trade in the first quarter was also up 1.4% compared to the same period in 2023.
Most regions contributed positively to the upturn, with Europe remaining a notable exception as its exports and imports continued to decline.
These are the first quarterly trade volume statistics released by the WTO since its most recent trade forecast was issued on April 10 in the organisation's Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report.
In that report, economists predicted growth of 2.6% in 2024 and 3.3% in 2025. The 1.0% increase in the first quarter is broadly consistent with these projections; if the current pace of expansion continues through the end of this year, trade volume for the whole of 2024 will be 2.7% higher than in 2023, according to the organisation.
Meanwhile, the US dollar value of world merchandise trade was down 2% year-on-year.
“The fact that trade values were declining while trade volumes were rising indicates that export and import prices were falling during this period.”
The latest quarterly merchandise trade data and other trade statistics can be downloaded from the WTO's online database at https://stats.wto.org/.
