Global growth is expected to be 2.8 percent in 2015, but is expected to pick up to 3.2 percent in 2016-17. Growth in developing countries and some high-income countries is set to disappoint again this year. The prospect of rising borrowing costs will compound the challenges many developing...

In the mid-2000s, the production of hearing aids shifted almost entirely to 3D printing. Using difference-in-differences and synthetic control methods, this paper examines the effects of this shift on trade flows. The analysis finds that trade increased roughly 60 percent following the...

East Asia, for long the epitome of successful engagement in trade, faces serious challenges: technological change that may threaten the very model of labor intensive industrialization and a backlash against globalization that may reduce access to important markets. A detailed analysis of the...

In recent years, international trade in creative goods and services has been expanding. But this upward march is not lifting all boats. Although many developing countries are endowed with vast cultural wealth, they still lag behind. In addition, women are not faring well. Much needs to be done...

"Global value chains (GVCs) powered the surge of international trade after 1990 and now account for almost half of all trade. This shift enabled an unprecedented economic convergence: poor countries grew rapidly and began to catch up with richer countries. Since the 2008 global financial crisis,...

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, addressed the topic of trade as an engine of growth. Advanced markets are experiencing low growth and in emerging markets, growth rates have fallen by almost 1 percentage point since 2013. This is not just about numbers, these economic...

Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- About the data -- Introduction -- The world by income, FY2017 -- The world by region -- Sustainable development goals -- 1. No poverty -- 2. Zero hunger -- 3. Good health and well-being -- 4. Quality education -- 5. Gender equality -- 6. Clean water and sanitation...

Deepening real and financial integration of developing countries into the world economy has prompted renewed interest in the contribution of external shocks to their macroeconomic fluctuations. This paper revisits the issue using four decades of annual data for a large sample of developing...

This edition of Global Trade Watch addresses three questions concerning recent trade developments: What is happening? Why? Does it matter? 2016 is the fifth consecutive year of sluggish trade growth and the year with the weakest trade performance since the aftermath of the 2008 global financial...