WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/COMTD/W/100
19 June 2002
(02-3415)
Committee on Trade and Development
PARTICIPATION OF THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
IN THE GLOBAL TRADING SYSTEM
I. INTRODUCTION
1. This note has been prepared by the Secretariat to assist the Committee on Trade and Development
to meet its mandate/requirement to keep under continuous review the participation of developing
country Members in the multilateral trading system1.  It updates previous studies on this topic
produced for the Committee in 1997 and 20002, and complements the WTO Annual Report, 2002 .
Readers are invited to consult that document for more detail, especially for developments in the area
of commodity trade and developing countries.
2. The principal themes within the document are the modest recovery in global trade for the year
2002 as the global economic outlook continues to improve.  Developing countries are well placed toenhance their participation in world trade, depending on whether or not, as a group they can continue
the trade dynamism that they have shown throughout the 1990s.  They have been principal drivers of
the structural changes in world trade and their importance as markets for products from both
developed and developing countries continues to grow.  Given the economic and trade diversity of
developing countries, the document highlights the fact that a positive trade performance will notnecessarily be experienced by all countries.
A. O
VERALL TRENDS
3. In sharp contrast to 2000, when both trade and output expanded at record rates, the value and
volume of world merchandise exports, decreased in 2001.  Three factors played a major role in this
slowdown: the burst of the global information technology bubble, the sluggishness of demand in
Western Europe, and to a much lesser extent, the dramatic events of 11 September.  North Americanand Asian imports recorded the sharpest cutbacks, while those of Latin America and Western Europe
decreased by 2 and 3 per cent, respectively.
4. Despite the weakening of the global economy in 2001 some regions and countries reported
strong trade and output expansion.  Economic growth close to 5 per cent in the transition economies
contributed to double-digit increases in regional im ports.  Increases in FDI inflows and substantially
higher earnings from fuel exports in recent years co ntinue to be major elements that are facilitating
the emergence of transition economies as some of the most dynamic traders in 2001.  In Africa and
the Middle East a substantial increase in export earnings in 1999 and 2000 sustained output and
imports in 2001.  In both the latter regions, output expanded by at least 3 per cent.  As the three
regions' exports and output had been less affected by the bursting of the information technologybubble, their rising imports moderated the slowdown of world trade last year.
3
                                                     
1 This note has been prepared under  the Secretariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice to the
positions of Members or to their rights and obligations under the WTO.
2 WT/COMTD/W/31 and WT/COMTD/W/65
3 Chapter II of the WTO Annual Report, 2002  contains a more detailed review of trade developments in
2001.WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 2
5. These developments, however, should be seen in the context of the overall trend in the growth
and changing structure of trade.  With respect to the structure of trade, this report highlights a number
of key issues. First, trade in high technology produc ts is the fastest growing component of trade, and
now accounts for more than 25 per cent of total trad e.  Developing countries, especially the large
traders, are playing a crucial role in driving chan ges in both the volume and value of trade.  It is
important to note that not all developing countries, however, are playing such a role.  Most of themhave not experienced competitive growth in expo rts and still continue to export mainly low
technology and primary products, the sl owest growing components of trade.
6. The successful launching of the Doha Development Agenda after the events of 11 September
and the acceptance by the Ministerial Conference of four new members sent out a clear signal that the
multilateral trading system is fully operational.  Whil e Doha helped to re-establish battered consumer
and business confidence, it could have little immediate impact on current trade flows as economic
agents need time to adjust to new opportunities.  On the other hand, undertakings by the industrialcountries to provide duty-free, quota-free access to all or most LDCs through the "Everything but
Arms" initiative of the EU or the United States -African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would
have supported exports of individual countries already in 2001, although it is still too early to make an
analysis of the full impact of these trade policy initiatives.
II. LONGER TERM DEVELOPMENTS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES'
PARTICIPATION IN THE TRADING SYSTEM
7. The volume, value and structure of world merchandise trade have changed significantly over
the past two decades.  In this section these changes are examined, especially in the context of
developing countries.  For ease of analysis world trade has been divided into five categories.  Theseare: primary products, resource based products and low, medium and high technology products.
4
8. In 1980 the largest components of world trade were primary products and medium technology
manufactures (chart 1).  By 2000, however, primary products were the smallest component of world
trade, being superseded dramatically by exports of high technology products.  The latter accounted for
more than a quarter of world exports in 2000, compared to only 10 per cent in 1980.  An interestingfeature of the growth of world exports is that they are correlated with the level of technology. The
highest growth rates were recorded in the high technology category, whereas the lowest
manufacturing growth rate was in resource based manuf actures.  The lowest overall growth rate was
in primary products, recording only a 3.2 per cent growth rate.
                                                     
4 For product classification see  Lall, S. (2000), "The technological structure and performance of
developing country manufactured exports, 1985-1998", Queen Elizabeth House Working Paper Series, No.QUEHWPS44, Oxford University.WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 3
Chart 1 Share of world exports by type of commodity, 1980-2000
A. GROWTH OF IMPORT MARKETS AND MARKETS SHARES
9. During the 1990s, the regions with above average import growth were Latin America,
Developing Asia and Nort h America, which recorded rates that range between 8.5 per cent and
10.3 per cent, or about two times faster than the expansion of imports into Western Europe or Japan.
As regards market size, the North American and West European market each accounted for slightlymore than one quarter of developing country exports at the beginning of the 1990's.  Japan’s imports
from developing countries were slightly more than one half of those of the other two leading
developed markets.  Developing Asia accounted for 18.5 per cent of developing country exports,
whereas all other developing regions combined accounted for 9.4 per cent of developing country
exports (Table 1).
Table 1  Merchandise exports of developing countries
by destination, 1990-2000
(Percentage share)
1990 1995 2000
World 100.0 100.0 100.0
North America 26.2 24.8 29.6
Developing Asia 18.4 27.4 26.4Western Europe 25.8 20.3 18.8Japan 13.2 12.2 10.9Latin America 4.2 5.4 5.2Africa and Middle East 5.2 5.4 4.9Transition economies 2.9 1.3 1.005101520253035
Primary products Resource based
manufacturesLow technology
manufacturesMedium technology
manufacturesHigh technology
manufacturesPercent of world exports1980
2000WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 4
10. At the end of the decade differences in the regional import demand growth rates resulted in
changes in, the relative share of regions in developing country exports.  First, the share of Western
Europe and Japan has decreased sharply (from a combined 39 per cent down to approximately
30 per cent share) while there were corresponding increases of the shares of Developing Asia
(8 per cent), Latin America (1 per cent) and North America (3 per cent) over the 10 year period.
11. Developing country exports to Africa and the Middle East expanded less rapidly than the
group's total exports, which eroded their importance as markets from slightly more than five per cent
in 1990 to slightly less than five per cent in 2000.  The increased share of Latin America and
Developing Asia is due to deepening intra-regional integration.  The contribution of dynamic
intra-regional trade to market expansion was far more pronounced in Developing Asia than in Latin
America.  In the former region the share of intra-regional trade increased by 10 percentage points to
nearly 38 per cent while in Latin America intra-regional trade increased by only two percentage
points.  In both regions intra-regional trade growth became far less dynamic in the second half of the1990s.  In Latin America the share of intra-regional trade decreased significantly from its peak level
in 1996, while for Developing Asia the intra-regional trade share stagnated between 1998 and 2000.
Due to the repercussions of the Asian financial crisis the share of Developing Asia in developing
country exports dropped temporarily to less than 25 per cent in 1998, but recovered thereafter without
reaching the 1995 peak level of 27.4 per cent.
12. Turning to the market share of developing countries in merchandise imports of selected
regions, there was a distinct upward trend in all markets between 1990 and 2000.  In developed
country markets, the share of developing countries in total merchandise imports was the highest in
Japan, followed by North America and Western Europe.  The rise in the share of developing countries
was more pronounced in Japan and North America than in Western Europe.  The marked dip in theupward trend of the developing countries' share in developed (but also in developing) markets in 1998
is largely due to the steep decline of petroleum pr ices and the contraction of imports of Developing
Asia during the Asian financial crisis in that year. When the East Asian economies recovered and
petroleum prices increased again in 1999 and 2000, the share of the developing countries returned to
its rising trend line.
13. The share of developing countries in developing country imports at 41 per cent exceeded that
in the developed regions (even if EU intra-trade is excluded) and reached a record peak in 2000
(Chart 2).  While the share of developing countries increased in imports of all four developing
regions, the share is particularly large in Developing Asia.  Almost one-half of the region's imports
originated from other developing countries.  As regards the imports of the Middle East and Africa, amarked increase in the share of developing countries could be observed. In 2000, the share of
developing countries in these two regions exceeded the corresponding share in Latin America, which
after an increase in the first half of the 1990's, eroded in the second half.  The evolution of the
developing country share in Latin America was affected by the predominant role of Mexico in the
region's imports (47 per cent in 2000) and its membership in NAFTA.WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 5
14. There is a clear increasing trend in the share of the developing countries in world trade and in
all major developed and developing markets.  The trend, however, masks wide disparities among the
developing country regions and even more so among individual developing countries. These will now
be investigated in more detail.
15. As indicated above, the expansion of developing country exports and imports rose in the
1990s much faster than world trade (9 per cent versus 6 per cent at annual rates).  As a consequence
the share of developing countries in 2000, at just over 30 per cent, reached its highest level in more
than two decades. Particularly buoyant trade expansion over the last decade can be observed for
Developing Asia and Latin America.  In the latte r region, the strong overall growth can be largely
attributed to Mexico.  Excluding Mexico, the growth  of Latin America's exports matches that of world
trade, although imports remained more dynamic than world imports.  Among the countries in
Developing Asia, China and a group of the four5 more advanced developing economies accounted for
a large part of the region's gains in the share of world merchandise trade.
16. Two salient features of this growth are the role that developing countries have played as
drivers of the changing structure of exports, and th eir increase in importance as markets for their own
exports.  The only product category where the growth rate of developing country exports and imports
from 1980 to 2000 did not exceed that of developed countries was exports of primary products.  In
most cases the growth rates for developing countries were double those of developed countries.  It
should be noted that this experience was not shared across all developing countries (Annex Tables 1
and 2).
                                                     
5 The group comprises Hong Kong, China;  Korea, Republic of;  Singapore and Chinese, Taipei.Developed regions
2030405060
1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 JapanChart 2  Share of developing countries in merchandise imports of 
selected markets, 1990-2000
Developing regions
2030405060
1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000Latin AmericaAfricaDeveloping Asia
 Developing regionsDeveloped regionsa
 Western Euro peaNorth America
Middle East
aExcluding EU intra -trade.WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 6
B. DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ' EXPORT GROWTH
17. The strong performance of the Developing Asia region biases the interpretation of aggregated
results because of their share in developing country exports to the world (59 per cent in 2000) and to
developing countries (67 per cent). Therefore, it is important to examine the performance of countries,
as opposed to regions.  Data were extracted for a sample of 144 developing countries.  Two country
groups stand out.  One group, the dynamic traders, comprises all developing countries which had anexport growth rate of 10 per cent or more. The second group of countries comprises all those
economies for which exports in 2000 were less than ten years ago.
18. Thirty one developing countries, regarded as dynamic traders, recorded an expansion of their
merchandise exports by more than 10 per cent annually.  Developing Asia comprised the largest
number of dynamic exporters (15), followed by Africa (8) and Latin America and the Middle East
(4 each).  A large majority of these dynamic traders are exporters of manufactures (17), seven are oil
exporters (of which four have increased sharply their share in world production) and five areexporting primarily non-fuel commodities.  Ten least-developed countries are among this group of
dynamic traders.  In at least seven countries the expansion of export processing zones played a crucial
role in the rapid export growth.
19. This positive picture contrasts significantly with the experience of 32 developing countries
which exported less in the year 2000 than they did ten years ago.  The majority of these countries arein Africa (16), followed by Latin America (9) and the Asia/Pacific region (7).  In the Middle East
region all countries recorded a higher level of exports in 2000 than in 1990.  All these countries export
primarily non-fuel commodities.
20. Another way to review the developing country experiences is to distinguish between those
countries which report above and those which record below global average export growth.  Out of144 developing countries, 54 countries recorded an export expansion in excess of the global average
growth rate of 6.4 per cent, while 90 developing countries recorded below average growth.  Despite
the very strong trade expansion of Developing Asia and dynamic intra-regional trade growth, only
about half of developing countries in Asia and the Pacific region recorded an export growth rate equal
to or exceeding the average global rate (21 out of 40).  In Latin America a slight majority could beobserved for traders with below average growth (23 to  16).  The corresponding ratio was 8 to 6 in the
Middle East.  In Africa the number of countries with below average growth (40) exceeded those with
above average export growth (11) by a wide margin.
21. One of the main explanatory factors for sluggish  export growth in many developing countries
is the product structure of their exports.  Global trade expansion over the least fifty years has shown
sharply different growth rates for non-fuel commodities, fuels and manufactured goods.  The growth
rate of manufactures exceeded that of the other two groups over the last fifty years.  This trend can be
observed for both developed and developing country exports.  Consequently, the countries/regions
which remained largely dependent on primary products for their export earnings experienced a
moderate expansion of their markets, well below that of world trade.
22. While the share of primary commodities in total exports has fallen for all four developing
regions, it is only in Developing Asia where the share of primary products accounts for less than20 per cent.  In Africa and the Middle East, primary products still accounted for more than 70 per cent
of total merchandise exports in the year 2000.  In Latin America, the share has fallen to about
40 per cent, but if one excludes Mexico, primary products still account for about 60 per cent of the
other Latin American countries' exports.
23. The strong link between export structure and trade growth can also be shown at the country
level.  In Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, the number of primary commodity exporting
countries by far exceeds exporters of manufactured goods.  The reverse is true only in Asia.WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 7
24. The dark bars in annex charts 1 through 4 indicate the share of primary products in the
exports of certain developing countries in the years 1998-2000.  The white bar in the charts indicates
the corresponding share in the years 1968-70.  The data presented in these charts indicate a strong
reduction in the share of primary products in most developing countries.  Only a few oil exporters
have increased their share of primary commodities in total merchandise exports.  The charts show that
Africa and the Middle East have only a limited number of manufactured goods exporters, while inAsia the latter outnumber the exporters of primary products.  Latin America is in an intermediate
position, although in this region the number of exporters specialising in manufactured goods is still
smaller than the number specialising in primary products.
25. The review of individual country experiences over the 1990s indicates considerable diversity
in the degree of participation of developing countries in world trade.  The difference between the
more positive aggregate developments and the less favourable situation at a country level is due to the
strong trade performance of the largest exporters among the developing countries.  China, Mexico andthe four more advanced developing economies in Asia accounted for more than one half of total
developing countries' merchandise exports.  The value of exports of four of these countries
individually exceeds that of the combined value of more than 50 African countries.
26. Separating five Asian countries and Mexico from the other developing countries provides a
clearer picture.  These six countries alone account for more than one half of developing countries'merchandise trade and more than 80 per cent of their manufactured goods exports.  China has become
the fourth largest trader in the world (if the EU is counted as a single trader) and its export value alone
already exceeds that of Africa, the Middle East and even Latin America if Mexico is excluded.  Given
this concentration of developing country trade, disaggregated data are of paramount importance in
understanding the development of trade in the majority of developing countries.
III. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
27. The downturn of the global trade, which started in the second half of the year 2000, continued
unabated up to the fourth quarter of 2001.  In the first quarter of 2002, however, the shrinkage of
global trade volume was arrested and reversed.  Based on preliminary data for major markets world
trade, stimulated by US imports, is estimated to have  expanded moderately in the first quarter.  In the
group of IT –traders in East Asia, which had reco rded an above average contraction of trade in 2001
numerous output and trade indicators are now pointing to a recovery.  Nevertheless the rate of theglobal trade expansion remained fragile due to the near stagnation of imports into the  EU and Japan.
The pace of the global trade expansion in real terms has to increase in the remaining three quarters in
order to achieve the projected one per cent average annual growth for 2002.
28. The moderate expansion of global economic activity and the weakness of prices for
internationally traded goods led to a decrease in th e dollar value of international trade.  The decline
was approximately 10 per cent in the first quarter of 2002, relative to the corresponding period of the
previous year.  In the first three months of 2002, double digit decreases on a year to year basis were
recorded for the merchandise imports of the four major trading regions;  Western Europe, Asia, North
America and Latin America.  More than one half of this decrease can be attributed to falling prices
which were accentuated by exchange rate changes.  After reaching a trough in the fourth quarter of2001, commodity prices of both crude petroleum and non-fuel commodities strengthened in the first
five months of 2002.  Despite this recent price ra lly commodity prices remained on average below the
level in the preceding year.WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 8
A. DECLINE OF WORLD TRADE IN 2001
29. The developing countries could not escape the contraction of world trade in 2001.  Their
value of merchandise exports and commercial services decreased by six and two per cent,
respectively.  These declines were greater than the overall decline in world trade in 2001.  This
performance contrasts sharply with that during the 1990s or the second half of the 1990s.  During the
former period their exports expanded faster than world trade resulting in a five percentage point againin their share of world merchandise and service trade.
30. As a group, the merchandise exports of developing countries in 2001 amounted to
$1919 billion which is approximately 30 per cent of world trade.  Commercial services exports of
developing countries are estimated to be about $334 billion, accounting for nearly one quarter of
world commercial services exports.  As a group, the developing countries recorded a merchandise
trade surplus in excess of $200 billion (on a fob-fob basis) and a trade deficit for commercial services
in the order of $56 billion.
31. Given the considerable heterogeneity among the developing countries with respect to
development levels, income growth, trade structure and market access it is not surprising to find wide
variations in the short and long term trade performance among the developing regions/countries.
These variations shall now be examined  in the following two sub-sections.
B. M
ERCHANDISE TRADE DEVELOPMENTS BY REGION IN 2001
32. In 2001, the largest merchandise export decrease (-13 per cent) was recorded by the group of
the six6 East Asian information technology (IT) traders (Table 2).  The burst of the IT bubble,
characterised by a steep world wide fall in IT investment expenditure had a dramatic impact on their
trade and output.  This development is in stark contrast to the dynamic trade expansion for the group
over the 1990s.
33. The oil exporting developing countries experienced lower oil prices in 2001 which was the
principal factor in the nine per cent drop their merchandise export revenues in 2001.  Given thestrength of the oil price recovery in 1999-2000 their imports, however, could still expand by seven per
cent in 2001 financed by the substantial increase in foreign exchange reserves earned in the preceding
year and from a sizeable merchandise trade surplus.
34. In contrast to the oil-exporting developing countries, the developing IT traders also recorded a
steep contraction of their imports (matching the export decline) reflecting the importance of intra-industry trade which in a cyclical slowdown depresses both exports and imports.  For the other major
exporters of manufactured goods, there was a marked deceleration of export growth, although an
absolute decrease could still be avoided (the exception being Hong Kong, China and Mexico).  In the
year of its accession to the WTO, China became the world's fourth largest merchandise exporter and
importer (if the EU is considered as a single trader) ahead of Canada as it continued to be among thecountries with the strongest trade expansion in 2001.
                                                     
6 Korea Rep. of;  Malaysia;  Philippines;  Singapore;  Chinese,Taipei;  ThailandWT/COMTD/W/100
Page 9
Table 2  Merchandise trade by developing region, 1995-2001
(Billion dollars and percentage)
Exports Imports (c.i.f.)
Value Annual percentage change Value Annual percentage change
2001 1995-2001 2000 2001 2001 1995-2001 2000 2001
World 6162 3 13 -4 6439 4 13 -4
Developing countries 1919 5 23 -6 1806 3 20 -4
   Latin America 349 7 20 -3 381 7 16 -2
      Mexico 159 12 22 -5 176 15 23 -4
      Other Latin America 190 4 18 -1 205 2 10 0   Africa 141 5 28 -5 134 1 5 1
   Middle East 239 9 42 -9 174 5 10 4
   Developing Asia 1190 4 21 -7 1117 2 25 -7      IT traders (6) 
a582 2 19 -13 530 0 25 -13
      China 266 10 28 7 244 11 36 8
      Hong Kong, China b191 2 16 -6 202 1 18 -6
      India 44 6 19 4 51 6 10 -2
Memorandum item :
North America 994 4 13 -6 1410 7 18 -6
   United States 731 4 11 -7 1181 7 19 -6
Western Europe 2484 2 4 -1 2527 2 6 -3   European Union (15) 2290 2 3 -1 2335 2 6 -2
Japan 405 -2 14 -16 350 1 22 -8
Transition economies 285 10 26 5 268 10 14 11
a   The Rep. of Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taipei, Chinese and Thailand.
b   Including re-exports.
35. The large number of developing countries with exports concentrated on non-fuel primary
products faced considerable price fluctuations in commodity markets in 2001.  The number of primary
products recording a price decline outnumbered those for which prices increased resulting in an
average decline of non-fuel commodity prices of fi ve percent in 2001.  In Africa, home of the largest
number of traders depending on non-fuel commodities, merchandise exports are estimated to havedecreased by 5 per cent while imports nearly stagnated in 2001.  South Africa, the region's largest
trader recorded a decrease in exports (imports) of 2 (3) per cent.  The oil exporting African countries
imported about 10 per cent more than in the preceding year, while their merchandise export earnings
fell by 9 per cent.  African exporters of manufactures remained unaffected by the contraction of global
IT expenditure and trade as their shipments consists largely of clothing and semi-manufactures.  Forthe remaining commodity exporting African countries their exports and imports are estimated to
decrease only slightly, which given the weakness in commodity prices would point to an increase in
exports in real terms.  In marked contrast to the oil exporting African countries the non-fuel
commodity exporter in Africa continued to record a rather substantial merchandise trade deficit
(Table 3).WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 10
Table 3  Merchandise trade of Africa, 1995-2001
(Billion dollars and percentage)
Exports Imports (c.i.f.)
Value Annual percentage change Value Annual percentage change
1995-2001 2000 2001 2001 1995-2001 2000 2001
Africa 141 5 28 -5 134 1 5 1
  South Africa 29 1 12 -2 29 -1 11 -3
  Major fuels exporters  a66 9 62 -9 36 3 14 10
     Exporters of manufacturesb15 5 0 4 22 3 7 1
      Other Africa 30 1 3 -1 47 0 -6 -1
a  Angola, Algeria, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libyan Arab Yamahiriya, Nigeria and Sudan.
b  Mauritius, Morocco and Tunisia.
C. COMMERCIAL SERVICES TRADE BY REGION IN 2001
36. Global commercial services trade decreased in 2001 because of the sharp reduction of
United States and Japan's imports (table 4).  Imports of a number of East Asian developing countries,
in particular IT traders, decreased as their economies slowed sharply.  Western Europe's commercial
services trade which alone accounts for about 45 per cent of world trade, stagnated in 2001.  There
was hardly any change from the sluggish West European performance in the preceding year in
contrast to other regions which reported a marked deterioration over the last two years from strong to
sluggish growth or even contraction.  Developing countries, which export services principally to the
US and Japan, suffered a severe contraction of their services exports.  At the same time, those
oriented to West European markets fared much better.  After a 17 per cent export surge in 2000
Mexico's services exports contracted by 7 per cent in 2001 matching the overall percentage decreaseof US commercial services imports.  The Caribbean countries depending on tourism earnings for most
of their total export earnings have suffered from the repercussions of the 11 September events as well
as from a generally weaker United States economy.
37. According to the scant information available for commercial services of Africa and the
Middle East there was a small contraction of the two regions' exports and imports. Egypt and SouthAfrica, which combined accounted for more than 45 per cent of African commercial services exports
in 2000, both reported a decrease in their exports and imports in 2001.  Israel, by far the largest
exporter in the Middle East, recorded a steep fall in its services exports, due to lower export earnings
from tourism.
38. Developing Asia, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of developing countries services
trade recorded a marginal increase in its exports and a stagnation of its imports leading to small
reduction in the region’s services trade deficit.  China and India were the two countries among themajor traders in Asia which reported a rise in both imports and exports last year.  The exceptionally
strong rise in India's commercial services trad e cannot be explained satisfactory, since detailed
statistics for the dynamic "other services category" are not yet available.  Hong Kong China, the
largest commercial services trader among the developing countries benefited from the strength of the
Chinese market and merchandise trade growth which offset partly the repercussions of the sluggishJapanese and Taiwanese market.  In a marked contrast to the trade performance of the developed and
developing countries, the transition economies benefited from strong intra-regional trade and reported
double digit growth of their commercial services exports and imports.WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 11
Table 4  Commercial services trade by developing region, 1995-2001
(Billion dollars and percentage)
Exports Imports
Value Annual percentage change Value Annual percentage change
2001 1995-2001 2000 2001 2001 1995-2001 2000 2001
World 1440 3 6 -1 1430 3 6 -1
Developing countries 334 4 11 -2 390 3 12 0
   Latin America 58 5 11 -4 72 5 12 2
      Mexico 13 4 17 -7 17 11 19 1
      Other Latin America 45 4 9 -3 55 3 10 2   Africa 30 3 0 … 38 1 7 …
   Middle East 31 5 15 … 56 4 10 …
   Developing Asia 215 3 12 1 224 3 13 0     China 31 9 15 3 36 6 16 2      Hong Kong, China 43 4 13 2 23 1 2 0
      Korea, Rep. of 28 4 12 -2 33 4 23 -1
      Singapore 26 -2 13 -2 20 3 13 -6      Taipei, Chinese 21 6 18 3 24 0 10 -8      India 20 19 26 14 24 15 15 21
Memorandum item :
North America 298 5 9 -4 227 6 14 -6
   United States 263 5 9 -3 188 6 16 -7Western Europe 670 3 1 0 631 3 1 0   EU (15) 604 3 1 1 589 3 1 0
Japan 63 0 13 -7 107 -2 1 -8
Transition economies 55 3 10 10 57 4 18 11WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 12
Annex Table 1  Merchandise export expansion by region and
level of technology, 1980-2000
(Average annual percentage change)
Resource Low Medium High
Primary Based Technology Technology Technology
Products Manufactures Manufactures Manufactures Manufactures
North America 2.2 5.1 8.4 7.0 9.1
Latin America 5.1 5.1 11.8 14.8 21.0
Western Europe 3.5 4.2 4.8 5.5 9.3
   EU (15) 2.9 4.1 4.6 5.5 9.4Transition economies 15.0 17.3 13.8 12.3 12.8Africa 4.2 2.5 7.7 9.0 12.8
Middle East -0.2 9.3 13.6 13.9 n.a.
Asia 3.7 6.7 8.3 8.1 15.6
Developed countries 3.2 4.5 5.1 5.9 9.5
Developing countries 2.4 6.3 10.4 13.7 19.8
   Developing Asia 3.2 7.3 10.2 13.6 19.6      NICs (6) 3.2 7.1 6.7 12.1 18.2
World 3.2 5.2 6.7 6.8 11.3
n.a.  not applicable due to low base of 1980 figure.
.
Annex Table 2  Merchandise import expansion by region and
level of technology, 1980-2000
(Average annual percentage change)
Resource Low Medium High
Primary Based Technology Technology Technology
Products Manufactures Manufactures Manufactures Manufactures
North America 3.0 6.5 10.2 9.1 13.7
Latin America 10.5 12.4 16.0 13.3 17.7
Western Europe 1.0 3.6 5.3 6.4 9.6
   EU (15) 0.8 3.5 5.2 6.3 9.6Transition economies 8.3 12.4 16.0 12.6 18.1Africa 4.1 2.5 2.8 1.6 5.4
Middle East 6.2 6.1 2.3 4.2 8.1
Asia 3.8 6.0 11.0 9.6 15.9
Developed countries 1.6 4.3 7.0 7.3 11.1
Developing countries 6.7 7.9 10.1 9.0 15.6
   Developing Asia 6.5 8.1 11.5 10.2 17.1     NICs (6) 6.1 7.8 11.4 9.7 16.7
World 2.7 5.1 7.7 7.9 12.3WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 13
Annex Chart 1  Share of primary products in Latin American countries'
merchandise exports, 1968-70 and 1998-2000
0 1 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0 1 0 0Dominican Rep.
Mexico
Antigua and Barbuda
St.Kitts and Nevis
Costa Rica
Haiti
Brazil
Dominica
Barbados
El Salvador
Uruguay
Bolivia
Trinidad & Tobago
Grenada
Argentina
Guatemala
Colombia
Honduras
St.Lucia
Cuba
Montserrat
Jamaica
St.Vincent & Grenadines
Chile
Belize
Peru
Panama
Paraguay
Venezuela
Nicaragua
Suriname
Ecuador
Netherlands Antilles
1998-00 1968-70WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 14
Annex Chart 2  Share of primary products in African countries' merchandise
exports, 1968-70 and 1998-2000
0 1 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0 1 0 0Tunisia
Mauritius
Madagascar
Morocco
South Africa
Senegal
Togo
Egypt
Rwanda
Zimbabwe
Niger
Kenya
Burkina Faso
Tanzania
Gambia
Côte d'Ivoire
Burundi
Sudan
Ghana
Malawi
Mozambique
Cameroon
Uganda
Mali
Benin
Chad
Congo, Dem. Rep.
Guinea Bissau
Congo
Gabon
Algeria
Nigeria
Angola
Liberia
Mauritania
Libya
Zambia
1998-00 1968-70WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 15
Annex Chart 3  Share of primary products in  the Middle East countries'
merchandise exports, 1968-70 and 1998-2000
0 1 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0 1 0 0Israel
Lebanon
Jordan
Cyprus
Bahrain
United Arab Emirates
Oman
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Syria
Iran
Kuwait
Iraq
1998-00 1968-70WT/COMTD/W/100
Page 16
__________Annex Chart 4  Share of primary products in Developing Asian
economies' merchandise exports, 1968-70 and 1998-2000
0 1 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0 1 0 0Macau
Chinese, Taipei
Hong Kong, China
   Korea, Rep. of
Nepal
Bangladesh
China
Singapore
Pakistan
Malaysia
India
Thailand
Sri Lanka
Philippines
Cambodia
Indonesia
Lao PDR
Fiji
Myanmar
Vanuatu
Brunei
Tonga
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
1998-00 1968-70