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Global trade was worth a record $32 trillion in 2022, but growth, which turned negative in H2-2022 is set to stagnate in the first half of 2023, a recent report said.
UNCTAD’s latest Global Trade Update said trade in goods was about $25 trillion, 10% higher year-on-year (YoY), and trade in services totalled about $7 trillion, up 15% YoY.
"Those record levels are largely due to robust growth in the first half of 2022. Conversely, trade growth has been subpar during the second half of 2022, especially in the last quarter of 2022."
In Q4 2022 trade in goods declined by about $250 billion relative to Q3 2022. Trade in services remained virtually constant. The UNCTAD forecast for Q1 2023 indicates global trade in goods to increase by about 1% while trade in services is expected to increase by about 3% on the same basis
However, the silver lining was the strong performance of trade in "green goods", whose growth held strong throughout the year, the report noted.
Green goods, also called "environmentally friendly goods", refer to products that are designed to use fewer resources or emit less pollution than their traditional counterparts.
Defying the downward trend, trade in such goods grew by about 4% in the second half of the year. Their combined value hit a record $1.9 trillion in 2022, adding more than $100 billion compared to 2021.
Among green goods that performed especially well were electric and hybrid vehicles (+25%), non-plastic packaging (+20%) and wind turbines (+10%).
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
