Global trade expanded by an estimated $300 billion in the first half of 2025, growing at an estimated 1.5% in the first quarter and projections showing 2% growth in the second.
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) disclosed this in its just released Global Trade Update (July 2025).
Said the report: Price increases contributed to the overall rise in trade value. Prices for traded goods edged up in the first quarter and likely continued to rise in the second, while trade volumes grew by just 1%.
Developed economies outpaced developing countries in the first quarter of 2025, reversing recent trends that had favoured the Global South. The shift was driven by a 14% surge in United States imports and a 6% jump in European Union exports.
Trade imbalances widened during the last four quarters, with the US posting a larger deficit, while China and the European Union recorded growing surpluses.
The report further said that global trade faces mounting headwinds in the second half of 2025, amid persistent policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and signs of slowing global growth
