Global trade is set to reach almost $32 trillion this year, but inflation has reversed some of the gains made in recent months.
Trade growth is expected to lose momentum in the second half of this year and remain subdued in 2023, as the global economy sustains multiple shocks, such as ripple effects from the war in Ukraine, the latest forecast from the World Trade Organization (WTO) has revealed.
Countries are expected to spend a staggering $1.8 trillion importing food they need this year; this would be a new world record but worryingly, it’s going to buy them less food, not more.
As part of ongoing international efforts to address growing concerns over global food security linked to the war in Ukraine, a top UN official on Wednesday urged countries not to slap restrictions on the export of foodstuffs that are in such short supply elsewhere.
The global food trade should hit an all-time record high in both volume and value terms, according to a new report released on Thursday by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Financial assistance to the world’s 83 weakest economies fell by 15 per cent in 2020, to $35 billion as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, UN trade and development experts UNCTAD said on Monday.
The gigantic cargo ship that ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal last week is afloat once again after a Herculean salvage operation, but the damage to global trade will take months to fix.
That’s the assessment of maritime expert Jan Hoffman at UN trade and development agency UNCTAD, who also explains why the cost of sending freight around the world has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here he is, talking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.
