econoMAX - Sea Transport and its Impact on Globalisation

It is a normal rule of thumb that the volume of world trade tends to grow at double the rate of growth of world GDP. Between 1990 and 2008 global real GDP expanded at an average annual rate of growth of 3.2% while world trade volume grew at an average of growth of 6%. However, in the last two years world trade volume has risen by 4.8 per cent while real GDP has risen by only 4.0 percent. If the normal 2:1 ratio had applied, trade growth would have been about 3.2 per cent higher. The slowdown in the growth of world trade can be partly explained by the economic difficulties in the euro zone in 2012 and more latterly in the BRIC economies. In addition there has been a growth in protectionism since the start of the economic crisis in 2008.

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