Year 2000 Witnesses Highest Global Trade and Output GrowthGlobal trade and output growth in the year 2000 were the strongest in more than a decade, with all regions benefiting from the stronger world economy, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Annual Report 2001 published Wednesday.However, economists from WTO said that a deceleration of economic growth began in the final quarter of the year 2000, clouding the trade prospects for 2001. The volume of world merchandise trade is expected to grow by 7 percent this year, a marked reduction from the estimated 12 percent in 2000. According to the report, exports and imports by developing countries expanded by more than 20 percent, lifting their share in world merchandise trade to the highest level in the last 50 years. Economists said that various factors contributed to this outcome, including the economic recovery in Latin America and East Asia, the sharp rise of oil prices as well as the stronger import demand in developed countries. The annual report showed that the value of world merchandise trade rose by 12.5 percent in the year 2000, twice the average for the last decade, to reach nearly 6.2 trillion U.S. dollars. The world commercial services trade is estimated to have expanded by 5 percent last year, reaching 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars. Prices of all internationally-traded goods remained almost unchanged from the preceding year as sharply higher prices for fuels were offset by declines in the prices of manufactured goods. In 2000, prices of manufactures recorded the fifth consecutive annual decline, causing average prices to fall to their lowest level in 10 years. |
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