World trade in goods rose to a record high in the first half of this year thanks to the recovery in global economic activity. The World Trade Organization (WTO) stated this in its report today, which at the same time increases its forecast for world trade and global economic growth for this year and next year.
The WTO now expects the volume of world goods trade to increase by 10.8 percent this year, up from eight percent growth in March. The organization raised its forecast for trade growth next year to 4.7 percent from its previous forecast of four percent. Last year, trade fell 5.3 percent due to the pandemic.
“The recovery in global economic activity in the first half of 2021 has pushed goods trade above its pre-pandemic peak. This prompted WTO economists to increase their forecasts for trade developments in 2021 and 2022,” the WTO said in its report today.
Global GDP will increase by 5.3 percent this year, according to updated estimates, after last year’s decline of 3.5 percent. The organization thus increased its forecast for world economic growth this year from the previous assumption of 5.1 percent. This then raises the forecast for global economic growth next year to 4.1 percent from 3.8 percent.
However, in today’s report, the WTO points to persistent risks associated with the spread of the coronavirus and problems in supply chains. He also pointed out that in some of the less developed regions, trade growth lags far behind the global average.
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