Trade in Goods, Commodities, Manufactures and Services

World trade hit a record $32 trillion in 2022, but growth turned negative in the last half of the year. Environmentally friendly products defied the trend.

UNCTAD nowcasts show that trade in services has not yet reached its pre-pandemic level, while merchandise trade is projected to have surpassed it by 15%.

Global Services Forum requests that UNCTAD provide the platform to boost dialogue and expand the services community given the power of services to unlock economic transformation and development in developing countries.

Services sector remains hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, dropping to levels last seen in the 1990s, nowcasts from UNCTAD's 2020 Handbook of Statistics show.

UNCTAD research shows that total commodity exports to China could fall dramatically as a result of the coronavirus crisis, but there may be a silver lining for some products.

UNCTAD presented its report on international trade and development before the United Nations General Assembly, highlighting the trade inequality that persists between countries and warrants urgent policy attention.

Zambia's trade is dominated by the export of a primary commodity - copper - so the Government is looking at ways to diversify sources of revenue, add value to exports and build a resilient economy for its citizens.

Experts concluded two days of discussions on how to enhance the multilateral trading system's contribution towards inclusive and sustainable development as the very nature of trade is rapidly evolving.

Nicaraguan Government officials and UNCTAD experts met in Managua on 26 and 27 June to review the final findings of a Services Policy Review (SPR) of the country.​

Research and trends in the global economy indicate that developing countries cannot develop without expanding and deepening their services sectors - spheres of economic activity that range from energy, to telecommunications, to such knowledge- and skills-based work as engineering and computer programming.