Types of products international trade

International trade products

In this chapter we’ll look at the figures behind these patterns.

We’ll summarise the values of the different types of products

being traded and which countries dominate each kind of trade.

The Box has the BBC’s name on it, but if you get the chance to

look at containers in a port, you’ll see the names of innumerable

companies, written in dozens of languages, so we’ll also look at

how the patterns are changing as new countries emerge to challenge

the dominance of the OECD countries.

But before we go any further let’s be clear what is meant by

“dominance” in the last sentence. Total world trade in goods and

services has grown faster than world economic growth over the last

70 years and is expected to continue to do so. Trade has grown for

OECD and non-OECD countries alike. But over the last 20 years,

trade growth has been faster in countries outside the OECD area.

The share of trade of non-OECD countries has also been increasing.

Efforts to stimulate economic development and alleviate poverty

in non-OECD countries since 1945 are finally paying off. The fast

growth in non-OECD trade is an important global dividend from

these investments.