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Trade growth of "South" continued through 2007, but
developed countries still dominated exports of merchandise and services
The sub-prime mortgage crisis, the food crisis, the climbing cost of oil,
concerns about inflation, and worries about a global economic slowdown -- issues
that have taken the foreground in 2008 can be seen against the statistical
background of 2007 in the latest UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics(1).
The handbook, released today, shows that while the sub-prime crisis in
industrialized nations took hold in 2007, global merchandise exports for the
year increased by 14.4%. That included a 15.2% increase for developing
countries. Worldwide services exports climbed by 18.1% in 2007, with the
services exports of developing countries increasing by a similar 18.1%.
Reflecting the concerns of UNCTAD experts and others who have long urged the
world´s poorer nations to diversify their economies so that they are less
vulnerable to shifts in world markets, the 2007 data show a continued long-term
trend towards concentration of exports. While developing countries sold many
products and services overseas, an increasing amount of the value of these
exports came from a limited number of goods.
The handbook´s statistics show that for several countries, such as Haiti and
Nepal, remittances from citizens working overseas exceeded those countries´
exports of goods and services in 2007.
Emerging economies are frequently in the spotlight, but overall,
industrialized nations continued to dominate global economic activity. They
accounted for 71% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007, although they
had only 15% of the world´s population. They were responsible for 58.6% of the
value of merchandise exports for the year, and for 71.9% of services exports. On
the other hand, the rate of growth of exports of goods and services in 2007 was
slightly higher for developing countries than for developed countries.
This year´s handbook provides a broad range of statistics covering individual
countries, regions, and the world at large. Among the topics covered are:
- International merchandise trade, with the most recent 2007 data available,
including breakdowns of exports and imports for major products
- International trade in services
- Commodity prices, including long-term series and calculations on the
instability of prices, and a special focus given to the production and
consumption of aluminium and copper
- International finance, with balance-of-payments statistics and special
attention to foreign direct investment (FDI), workers´ remittances,
international reserves, official financial flows, and external debt -- all
topics of major importance
- Development indicators linked to national accounts and population
data.
The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics is available in three complementary
formats. DVD and on-line versions provide detailed information and long-term
series that allow users to consult, extract, and integrate data. The printed
version of the Handbook offers a selection of the information that is
electronically available, along with derived indicators such as shares and
growth rates that allow readers easily to find and summarize the contents of
tables.
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