The October 2025 update of the WTO’s “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics” presents the WTO Secretariat’s revised forecasts for world trade in 2025 and 2026. Breakdowns of merchandise and commercial services trade by sector and region are provided, together with details on leading traders.An analytical chapter looks at the limits of trade policy in inf...
At a meeting on 2 October, the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) advanced preparations for thematic discussions on critical and emerging technologies, good regulatory practices and metrology in trade to be held in November. WTO members also considered further refining their notification processes and the way their TBT measures are tracked ...
The World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held a Partnership Review Meeting in Geneva on 19 September 2025 to look into the impact of the cooperation between the two organizations. Building on the Memorandum of Understanding signed at COP28 in December 2023, the review highlighted p...
AI to boost trade by nearly 40% by 2040 if gaps are bridged, World Trade Report 2025 findsThe 2025 edition of the World Trade Report reveals that, with the right enabling policies, artificial intelligence (AI) could boost the value of cross-border flows of goods and services by nearly 40% by 2040 thanks to productivity gains and lower trade costs. However,...
At a special General Council meeting on 15 September, WTO members celebrated the entry into force of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which commits members to curbing billions of dollars in annual spending on the most harmful subsidies that contribute to the depletion of marine fish stocks. Hailing the Agreement as a “landmark for global trade go...
World merchandise trade is now projected to grow 0.9% in 2025, up from the -0.2% contraction forecasted in April but down from the 2.7% estimate pre-dating the tariff increases. The upgrade is mostly due to frontloading of imports in the United States, WTO economists said in a forecast update released on 8 August. However, higher tariffs over time will wei...
13th Ministerial Conference WTO members concluded the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi on 2 March 2024 with the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration setting out a forward-looking, reform agenda for the organization. Ministers also took a number of ministerial decisions, including renewing the commitment to have ...
