The World Trade Organization (WTO) issued today (30 July 2018) the latest editions of its annual statistical publications: World Trade Statistical Review, Trade Profiles and World Tariff Profiles.
World Trade Statistical Review 2018 looks into the latest trends in global trade, with an in-depth analysis of what is being traded in goods and services and who the leading players are. It also looks at the performance of developing economies, the latest developments in regional trade agreements, trade in value-added terms and digital trade.
A section on trade policy developments provides data on trade-restrictive and trade-facilitating measures implemented by WTO members, commitments to the Aid for Trade initiative, and implementation of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. It also looks into the latest developments in trade finance and the outcome of the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference held at the end of 2017.
Analytical chapters are complemented by over 60 tables providing a detailed breakdown of merchandise trade and trade in commercial services.
Merchandise trade data in World Trade Statistical Review are jointly produced in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) while commercial services data are jointly produced with UNCTAD and the International Trade Centre (ITC).
Trade Profiles 2018 provides a series of key indicators on merchandise trade and trade in commercial services for 197 economies, highlighting the breakdown of exports and imports for each economy as well as their main trading partners. For each profile, the data are presented in a handy two-page format, providing a concise overview of global trade.
World Tariff Profiles 2018, a joint publication of the WTO, ITC and UNCTAD, provides comprehensive information on the tariffs and non-tariff measures imposed by over 170 countries and customs territories. Tariff data are presented in comparative tables and in one-page profiles for each economy. Statistics on non-tariff measures by country and by product group complement the data on tariffs.
World Tariff Profiles also includes as a special topic an analysis of how least-developed countries make use of preferential tariffs offered by trading partners for their exports.
The three publications can be downloaded from the WTO website. French and Spanish editions will be available for download by the end of August. Printed copies will be available in September.
Additional data are available through the WTO’s statistical webpage, the WTO statistical database and the International Trade and Market Access online data application. A further update of merchandise exports and imports will be available online at the end of October.
The WTO also provides short-term trade data through the WTO statistics webpage. Time series data on merchandise and commercial services trade, on an annual basis, may also be downloaded here.