World Trade Picks Up by 5 percent in Q1

The value of world merchandise trade was 5% higher in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period of 2011, according to WTO figures released on 8 June 2012. This modest performance follows a slowdown in trade during the second half of 2011.

Chart 1: Recent quarterly developments in the value of world merchandise exports
Percentage change

These short-term indicators are in nominal value and should not be confused with the annual trade growth forecasts headlined in the 12 April 2012 press release, which are “volume” data that do not take price fluctuations into account.

Moreover, these values are not seasonally adjusted. Seasonal patterns may considerably affect the comparison of quarter on quarter (Q-o-Q) and month on month (M-o-M) developments in world trade.

Chart 2: Value of world merchandise exports, first quarter 2008 to first quarter 2012
Trillion dollars

Table 1: World merchandise trade by region and selected economies, January-March 2012
Percentage change in current US dollars, year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter

Exports			Imports
Y-o-Y	Q-o-Q		Y-o-Y	Q-o-Q
5	-2	World (a)	5	-2
8	-1	North America	8	-2
9	-1	United States	8	-2
6	-1	Canada	6	0
11	-4	South and Central America	11	-8
8	-17	Brazil	9	-11
1	-1	Europe	-1	1
0	-1	European Union (27) (b)	-1	1
-2	0	intra EU	-2	0
6	-3	extra EU	2	3
19	-6	Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)	12	-18
18	-8	Russian Federation	13	-19
15	6	Africa and the Middle East	10	-3
4	-6	Asia (a)	9	-2
8	-15	China	7	-6
2	14	India	22	2
2	-4	Japan	14	-1
2	-1	Six East Asian traders (c)	6	2

a Includes significant re-exports or imports for re-exports.
b “Intra EU” is trade within the EU; “extra EU” is trade between the EU and non-EU economies
c Hong Kong, China (excluding re-export trade), Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand