Context

• Recently the World Trade Organization (WTO) released the latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report.

Key Points

• According to the report, India recorded a 17 percent jump in exports of digitally delivered services to $257 billion.
• Now India has become the fourth largest exporter in the world. The report also noted that India's growth rate was much higher than the 4 percent growth recorded by China and Germany.
• WTO estimates global exports of digitally delivered services to grow to $4.25 trillion in 2023. This is up 9 percent year-on-year, accounting for 13.8 percent of world exports of goods and services.
• While all sectors of global goods trade declined in 2023, exports of digitally delivered services continued to grow.
• According to the report, exports to Europe and Asia (which have global shares of 52.4 percent and 23.8 percent respectively) grew by 11 percent and 9 percent. The contribution of trade, professional and technical services was 41.2 percent in 2023.
• World exports of digitally delivered services have seen the highest growth. This is followed by computer services (20.5 percent), finance services (16 percent), property related services (10.9 percent), insurance and pension services (5.2 percent), telecom (2.6 percent) audio-video and other personal, cultural and entertainment services ( 2.1 percent), and information services (1.5 percent).
• According to the report, these technologies are ready to revolutionize various aspects of the economy.
• This will lead to increased efficiency, innovation, cost savings, personalization opportunities, creation of new jobs and economic growth. After this, trade in digitally delivered services will get a further boost.
• It is noteworthy that the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence-AI) in creating content such as pictures, music or even videos increased rapidly in the year 2023.
• The report expects world merchandise trade to grow by 2.6 percent in 2024 and 3.3 percent in 2025 after falling by 1.2 percent in 2023.
• However, regional conflicts, geopolitical tensions and economic policy uncertainty pose substantial downside risks to the forecast.

About recent reports

• The WTO's "Global Trade Outlook and Statistics" report analyzes recent global trade developments through the fourth quarter of 2022 and presents the organization's forecasts for world trade in 2023 and 2024.

Important Facts For Exam

World Trade Organization (WTO)

• WTO was adopted in place of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) concluded in 1947.
• Start of work: 1 January 1995
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Members: 164 countries and European Union
• India became a founding member of GATT and WTO: Year 1947