This footage was filmed and produced 26 November 2023.

World merchandise trade should recover this year and grow by 2.6 per cent thanks to easing inflationary pressure, allowing real incomes to rise again and providing a stimulus to consumption of manufactured goods, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said on Wednesday.

Last year, trade volume contracted by 1.2% (-5% in value terms at $24.01 trillion), weighed down by high energy prices, inflation and severe geopolitical tensions (notably the wars in Ukraine and Gaza), which continue to pose a risk to international trade this year.

Uncertainties about the economic policies of the most powerful countries in world trade could also weigh on trade, the WTO acknowledged in releasing its projections for 2024.

The services trade sector, on the other hand, continues to offer new opportunities and was better able to withstand the shocks that hit the economy last year, when it grew by 9% to $7.54 trillion.

Sustained growth in trade in services helped to offset the decline in merchandise trade.

In addition to the economic and geopolitical elements affecting trade, the disruption of goods transport through the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal alarmed the trade sector, but, according to the WTO analysis, had limited consequences.

SHOTLIST:
1. WTO building (Sept 11, 2023);
2. Various port in Chile (Apr 8, 2022);
3. Various port of Durban (Jul 5, 2023);
4. Various maritime trade in India (Nov 26, 2023).