metadata: authors: 0: author: Michalopoulos,Constantine
1: author: Ng,Francis K. T.
count: World
docna: 0: docna: Trends in developing country trade 1980-2010
docty: Policy Research Working Paper
theme: Export development and competitiveness,Other trade and integration
majtheme: Trade and integration
subtopic: Construction Industry,Common Carriers Industry,Food & Beverage Industry,General Manufacturing,Pulp & Paper Industry,Plastics & Rubber Industry,International Trade and Trade Rules,Trade and Services,Business Cycles and Stabilization Policies,Inequality,Transport Services
teratopic: Private Sector Development,Macroeconomics and Economic Growth,International Economics and Trade,Poverty Reduction
abstracts: cdata!: This paper reviews trends and patterns
            in developing countries' trade from 1980 to 2010.
            During the 30-year span, world trade expanded rapidly,
            especially in developing countries in the last decade. A
            similar picture emerges in trade in services. These overall
            trends, however, mask different trade patterns during some
            of the time periods and among different developing countries
            and groups. For example, except for Asia, the 1980s were
            pretty much a "lost" decade for many developing
            countries and groups. But that changed in the 1990s and
            2000s, with trade by all major developing countries growing
            faster than developed countries. From 1980 to 2000, trade by
            Least Developed Countries grew much more slowly than that of
            developing countries as a whole. But those countries saw the
            fastest growth in trade in the following decade. This strong
            overall trade performance -- with some exceptions (for
            example Sub-Sahara Africa in the manufacturing trade) --
            raises questions about sustainability, trade policy and the
            architecture of the trading system.
repnme: repnme: Trends in developing country trade 1980-2010
display_title: Trends in developing country trade 1980-2010
listing_relative_url: /research/2013/01/17196495/trends-developing-country-trade-1980-2010
topicv3: Manufacturing Sectors m1326521 1281,Transport m1326661 135,Poverty m1326687 695,Trade m1326924 698,Trade in Services m1326928 780
publishtoextweb_dt: 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z
historic_topic: Private Sector Development,Macroeconomics and Economic Growth,International Economics and Trade,Poverty Reduction
no_of_pages: 38
author_keys: 0: author_key: 98664
1: author_key: 91429
model_extractions: WPS6334 Policy Research Working Paper 6334 Trends In Developing Country Trade 1980–2010 _Constantine Michalopoulos Francis Ng_ The World Bank Development Research Group Trade and Integration Team January 2013
Policy Research Working Paper 6334

# **Abstract**

This paper reviews trends and patterns in developing countries’ trade from 1980 to 2010. During the 30year span, world trade expanded rapidly, especially in developing countries in the last decade. A similar picture emerges in trade in services. These overall trends, however, mask different trade patterns during some of the time periods and among different developing countries and groups. For example, except for Asia, the 1980s were pretty much a “lost” decade for many developing countries and groups. But that changed in the 1990s and 2000s, with trade by all major developing countries growing faster than developed countries. From 1980 to 2000, trade by Least Developed Countries grew much more slowly than that of developing countries as a whole. But those countries saw the fastest growth in trade in the following decade. This strong overall trade performance—with some exceptions (for example Sub-Sahara Africa in the manufacturing trade)—raises questions about sustainability, trade policy and the architecture of the trading system.

This paper is a product of the Trade and Integration Team, Development Research Group. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world. Policy Research Working Papers are also posted on the Web at http://econ.worldbank.org. The author may be contacted at fng@worldbank.org.

_The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent._ Produced by the Research Support Team
# **TRENDS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRY TRADE 1980-2010**

Constantine Michalopoulos and Francis Ng Keywords: Trade trends and patterns, world trade, trade performance and growth, trade in developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs), market access JEL Classification: F01, F10, F13, F15, F43 Sector Board: PREM Constantine Michalopoulos is a former director at the World Bank and at present a visiting scholar at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. Email: c.michalopoulos@comcast.net.

Francis Ng is a senior economist of Trade Team (DECTI) of Development Research Group in the World Bank. Email: <u>fng@worldbank.org.</u> The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank and its affiliated organizations.
2

# **TRENDS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRY TRADE, 1980-2010**

## **INTRODUCTION**

The purpose of this paper is to review broad trends in developing countries’ trade for the last thirty years. The study is part of a more detailed analysis of the factors affecting developing-country trade performance during this period, which considers developments in their own trade policies as well as market access issues for their exports.

The period covered by this study, 1980–2010, witnessed a rapid expansion of world trade, and an even more rapid expansion of developing countries' trade, especially in the last decade.<sup>1</sup> The share of developing-country trade in total world merchandise trade (exports plus imports) was appreciably higher at the end of the period than at the beginning, 31 percent as opposed to 39 percent (Tables 1 and 2). There was a sharp decline in world trade in 2009. But this was offset by an even larger increase in 2010. Trade growth has decelerated in 2011-2012, and there are many uncertainties about 2013, but this does not affect these broad overall trends.

A similar picture emerges, if one also considers trade in services. While the data on services are much less complete than for merchandise trade, there is little doubt about the overall trends: services trade grew even faster than merchandise trade; and there was a rise in the share of developing countries’ exports.
3 As a consequence of these trends, the role developing countries play in the international trading system has changed radically; and this has been reflected in their participation in the moribund Doha Development Round negotiations.

GDP growth during this period was much less than the growth in trade for developed and developing countries alike. Using the ratio of total trade to GDP as an indicator of integration into world trade, on average developing countries were more integrated at the end of 2010 than twenty years earlier. This was the result of another long term trend in evidence over the past fifty years and an important dimension of the globalization process.

These overall trends however, disguise very different patterns during some of the sub-periods and among different developing countries and groups. Broadly speaking, the data show that, except for Asia, the 1980s were pretty much a ‘lost’ decade for many different developing countries and groups. By comparison, during the 1990s and 2000s trade for practically all major groupings of developing countries grew faster than trade of developed countries and, in many cases, very rapidly indeed. The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) deserve special mention: while growth in their merchandise trade was much slower than that of developing countries as a whole for the first twenty years (1980-2000), it was the most rapid during the decade 2001-2010. As a result, for the first time in many decades these countries showed an increase in their small share of total world trade.
4

**Table 1: World Merchandise Exports and Shares by Income Group and Region**

||19<br>|80<br>|199<br>|0<br>|20<br>|00<br>|20<br>|10<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|Exports<br>($bill)|Share<br>in %|Exports<br>($bill)|Share<br>in %|Exports<br>($bill)|Share<br>in %|Exports<br>($bill)|Share<br>in %|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||
|Developed economies|1,314|66.6|2,653|76.4|4,418|68.4|8,909|58.5|
|Developing economies|597|30.2|837|24.1|2,035|31.5|6,268|41.2|
|High income developing economies|254|12.9|363|10.5|854|13.2|2,108|13.8|
|Upper middle income economies|211|10.7|332|9.5|873|13.5|3,175|20.8|
|Lower middle income economies|120|6.1|128|3.7|285|4.4|908|6.0|
|Low income economies|12|0.6|14|0.4|23|0.4|77|0.5|
|Of which: Least developed countries|15|0.8|18|0.5|36|0.6|162|1.1|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|570|28.9|757|21.8|1,744|27.0|4,471|29.4|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|193|9.8|269|7.8|624|9.7|1,597|10.5|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|112|5.7|110|3.2|243|3.8|689|4.5|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|1,973|100.0|3,473|100.0|6,456|100.0|15,228|100.0|
|Developing economies|597|30.2|837|24.1|2,035|31.5|6,268|41.2|
|Asia|165|8.3|459|13.2|1,285|19.9|4,005|26.3|
|Latin America & Caribbean|104|5.3|145|4.2|362|5.6|886|5.8|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|250|12.7|165|4.8|293|4.5|1,035|6.8|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|78|3.9|68|2.0|94|1.5|341|2.2|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|72|3.7|203|5.8|482|7.5|2481|16.3|
|OPEC 12 members|280|14.2|174|5.0|311|4.8|1,077|7.1|

Source: Based on UN COMTRADE database.
5

**Table 2: World Merchandise Imports and Shares by Income Group and Region**

||19|80|199|0|200|0|20|10|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Imports|Share|Imports|Share|Imports|Share|Imports|Share|
|CountryGroup|<br>($bill)|<br>in %|<br>($bill)|<br>in %|<br>($bill)|<br>in %|<br>($bill)|<br>in %|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||
|Developed economies|1,465|72.9|2,775|78.2|4,792|72.0|9,508|62.0|
|Developing economies|485|24.2|784|22.1|1,863|28.0|5,764|37.6|
|High income developing economies|153|7.6|327|9.2|749|11.3|1,726|11.3|
|Upper middle income economies|202|10.1|298|8.4|808|12.1|2,859|18.7|
|Lower middle income economies|112|5.6|136|3.8|269|4.0|1,051|6.9|
|Low income economies|18|0.9|23|0.6|37|0.6|129|0.8|
|Of which: Least developed countries|25|1.2|26|0.7|43|0.6|170|1.1|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|451|22.4|707|19.9|1,586|23.8|4,019|26.2|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|182|9.1|245|6.9|582|8.7|1,464|9.6|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|97|4.8|113|3.2|217|3.3|700|4.6|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|2,009|100.0|3,550|100.0|6,659|100.0|15,326|100.0|
|Developing economies|485|24.2|784|22.1|1,863|28.0|5,764|37.6|
|Asia|181|9.0|476|13.4|1,216|18.3|3,873|25.3|
|Latin America & Caribbean|116|5.8|123|3.5|384|5.8|891|5.8|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|122|6.1|127|3.6|181|2.7|693|4.5|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|66|3.3|58|1.6|82|1.2|307|2.0|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|79|3.9|168|4.7|410|6.2|2,280|14.9|
|OPEC 12 members|122|6.1|100|2.8|148|2.2|595|3.9|

Source: Based on UN COMTRADE database.
6

# **TRENDS IN MERCHANDISE TRADE**

Developing country merchandise exports grew at an annual rate of 8.2 percent for the period 1980-2010 compared with 6.6 percent for developed countries (Table 3). But the performance was very different in the 1980s compared to the 1990s and 2000s. In the 1980s, developing-country exports grew only at 3.4 percent while exports of developed countries expanded at over 7 percent per annum. This reflects in large part the slower growth of the world economy during this period as well as the debt problems encountered by many groups of developing countries especially in Latin America and Africa.

In the last two decades the situation was reversed with developing-country export growth at more than 10 percent per annum compared with about 6 percent for the developed countries. The trends in merchandise imports parallel those in exports both for developed and developing countries alike. But in both periods, the developing countries’ imports grew faster than their exports (Table 3).

China’s exceptional trade performance throughout the period, and India’s in the last two decades, are well known. What is not always understood is that other groups of developing countries’ trade also grew very rapidly during the past twenty years, especially since 2000. Indeed, since the beginning of the 21<sup>st</sup> century, growth in the trade of all major developing country groupings whether classified by income level or by region was faster than that of developed countries. For the thirty years 1980-2010, only the developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and the group of developing countries in Europe, Middle and North Africa—whose exports are dominated by oil, experienced trade growth slower than that of developed countries.
7 Table 3 also shows the performance of different regions of developing countries. In practically all cases and periods, Asia as a region has shown the greatest growth with Latin America second. But Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, Middle East and North Africa grew fastest in the last decade.

**Table 3: Growth in World Merchandise Exports and Imports by Income Group and Region**

||An|nual Expor|t Growth(i|n %)|Ann|ual Import G|rowth(in %|)|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||
|Developed economies|7.3|5.2|7.3|6.6|6.6|5.6|7.1|6.4|
|Developing economies|3.4|9.3|11.9|8.2|4.9|9.0|12.0|8.6|
|High income developing economies|3.7|8.9|9.5|7.3|7.9|8.7|8.7|8.4|
|Upper middle income economies|4.6|10.2|13.8|9.5|4.0|10.5|13.5|9.2|
|Lower middle income economies|0.7|8.3|12.3|7.0|2.0|7.0|14.6|7.7|
|Low income economies|1.2|5.2|12.8|6.3|2.1|5.0|13.3|6.7|
|Of which: Least developed countries|1.9|7.1|16.2|8.2|0.4|5.3|14.6|6.6|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|2.9|8.7|9.9|7.1|4.6|8.4|9.7|7.6|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|3.4|8.8|9.9|7.3|3.0|9.1|9.7|7.2|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|-0.1|8.2|11.0|6.3|1.5|6.8|12.4|6.8|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|5.8|6.4|9.0|7.0|5.9|6.5|8.7|7.0|
|Developing economies|3.4|9.3|11.9|8.2|4.9|9.0|12.0|8.6|
|Asia|10.8|10.8|12.0|11.2|10.2|9.8|12.3|10.8|
|Latin America & Caribbean|3.3|9.6|9.4|7.4|0.6|12.0|8.8|7.0|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|-4.1|5.9|13.4|4.8|0.4|3.6|14.4|6.0|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|-1.3|3.3|13.7|5.1|-1.4|3.6|14.2|5.2|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|10.8|9.1|17.8|12.5|7.8|9.3|18.7|11.8|
|OPEC 12 members|-4.6|5.9|13.2|4.6|-2.0|3.9|15.0|5.4|

Source: Based on UN COMTRADE database.
8 In the 1980s and 1990s, with the exception of China, trade grew fastest for the higher and middle income developing countries and more slowly for the lower income countries and the LDCs. This relationship however, did not hold up in the 2000s when LDC exports expanded very rapidly, indeed more rapidly than any other group, except for the upper middle income economies whose performance is dominated by China.

As noted in many studies, the trade performance of the various groups of developing countries depends very much on the composition of their exports as between manufactures and primary commodities and foodstuffs and the direction of their trade. Overall, growth of developing countries’ manufacturing exports and imports has exceeded that of developed countries for practically all groupings of developing countries for last two decades and for the period as a whole (Table 4). The same holds true for non-manufacturing trade—except that in this case LDC exports of raw materials and minerals lagged those of developed countries in the 1990s. In the 2000s however, increased demand and rising prices of raw materials led to very rapid (14.6 percent per annum) increase of LDC non-manufacturing trade.
9

**Table 4: Growth in Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing Trade by Income Group and Region**

||Annua|l Growth in|Manuf. Tr|ade(%)|Annual Gr|owth in No|n-Manuf. T|rade(%)|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||
|Developed economies|9.1|5.7|6.2|7.0|3.3|4.2|10.0|5.8|
|Developing economies|11.0|11.5|11.1|11.2|1.7|7.3|13.8|7.5|
|High income developing economies|14.9|9.6|8.1|10.8|0.6|7.3|13.0|6.9|
|Upper middle income economies|7.8|14.6|13.2|11.8|1.6|7.1|14.5|7.6|
|Lower middle income economies|8.7|9.8|12.7|10.4|3.5|7.9|13.5|8.2|
|Low income economies|5.8|7.0|12.4|8.4|2.5|4.3|14.1|6.8|
|Of which: Least developed countries|5.7|8.0|12.8|8.8|6.1|2.6|14.6|7.7|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|11.1|10.9|8.5|10.1|1.5|6.9|12.3|6.8|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|6.7|13.8|8.1|9.5|1.5|6.3|12.1|6.5|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|8.4|10.1|10.9|9.8|3.4|7.8|11.2|7.4|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|9.7|7.1|7.8|8.2|2.7|6.0|11.2|6.6|
|Developing economies|11.0|11.5|11.1|11.2|1.7|7.3|13.8|7.5|
|Asia|15.5|11.4|11.5|12.8|5.1|7.2|15.8|9.3|
|Latin America & Caribbean|3.7|16.6|7.6|9.2|2.4|7.0|11.9|7.0|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|3.3|6.0|15.1|8.0|-3.5|9.4|12.1|5.8|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|5.2|4.3|13.0|7.4|3.0|2.7|12.3|5.9|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|11.6|10.9|18.3|13.6|8.3|3.9|18.7|10.1|
|OPEC 12 members|1.8|5.7|15.9|7.7|-2.8|8.9|11.5|5.7|

Note: The classification of manufacturing products in exports and imports is defined as SITC 5+6+7+8-68 in revision 3.

Source: Based on UN COMTRADE Statistics.
10 Within manufacturing, developing country export growth was especially rapid in machinery and transport as well as chemicals. Practically all developing country groups shared in this growth (Table 5) but it was especially rapid in the upper middle income countries—even excluding China, as well as the BRICS and Latin America.

**Table 5: Growth in Sectoral Exports by Income Group and Region during 1980-2010**

||||Annual A|verage Gr<br>|owth Rate in<br>Of<br>|Exports(%)<br>which in Tot<br>|al Manufacturin<br>|g<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Agric. &|Ores &||All|Chemical|Textiles &|Machinery|Other|
|CountryGroup|<br>Feed|Metals|Fuels|Manuf.|Products|Clothing|<br>& Transport|Manuf.|
|**BY INCOME GROUP**|||||||||
|Developed economies|5.1|6.3|8.1|6.5|8.0|4.2|6.5|6.1|
|Developing economies|7.9|10.1|6.6|14.6|15.8|10.3|17.2|13.2|
|High income Developing economies|6.4|11.5|4.9|12.1|15.5|5.5|14.7|10.6|
|Upper Middle income economies|8.8|11.3|9.6|18.5|16.7|15.5|21.7|16.3|
|Lower Middle income economies|7.1|7.9|8.3|13.5|14.4|10.7|16.8|12.9|
|Low income economies|5.6|4.8|6.6|9.5|9.1|6.5|9.6|11.2|
|Of which: Least Developed countries|5.7|7.4|7.9|9.0|10.0|6.5|11.2|9.3|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|7.5|9.7|6.4|12.8|14.8|7.4|15.5|11.2|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|8.1|10.8|9.3|14.1|14.1|8.6|17.5|11.8|
|Lower middle income, excl. India|6.9|6.8|7.7|14.6|13.5|11.5|19.0|13.3|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|5.9|7.4|7.2|8.1|8.8|6.7|8.3|7.5|
|Developing economies|7.9|10.1|6.6|14.6|15.8|10.3|17.2|13.2|
|Asia|7.5|9.2|8.3|14.7|16.9|10.6|17.2|13.6|
|Latin America & Caribbean|9.7|12.6|11.5|16.6|14.8|9.4|20.6|14.5|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|8.9|7.9|5.2|14.1|15.3|8.1|13.9|16.5|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|4.8|8.7|10.0|8.0|8.1|5.2|11.7|6.7|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|12.1|14.0|21.6|19.2|18.5|16.6|24.8|16.7|
|OPEC 12 members|10.4|14.3|5.7|16.9|21.1|16.9|14.8|16.6|

Notes: The classification of product groups is defined in SITC revision 2 as agriculture & feed (0+1+2+4-27-28), ores & metals (27+28+68) fuels (3), all manufactures (5+6+7+8-68), chemical products (5), textiles & clothing (26+65+84), machinery & transport (7), and other manufactures (6+8-65-68-84).

Export data in sectoral breakdown is based on 161 countries data available in 2010 from COMTRADE database. Where the aggregate merchandise export data is based on total 192 countries data available in Table 3 from World Development Indicators database. Source: Based on UN COMTRADE Statistics.
11 Growth of manufactured exports in the developing world was in part prompted by the development of value chains which took advantage of labor cost differentials. Developing countries benefited from large investments by both multinationals and local entrepreneurs in assembly or production of final consumer goods based on the importation of intermediates. It is difficult to estimate how much of this happened in different parts of the developing world. One proxy for intermediates is given by an indicator consisting of 75 parts and component products at the SITC-2 to 5-digit level.<sup>2</sup> The results of this analysis are shown in Table 6.

In 1980 the share of parts and components in total manufacturing imports was only slightly higher in developed countries than in developing. In the next two decades this share grew in both groups of countries—but much faster in developing countries than in developed. The aggregate share of parts and components in total imports fell in the both developed and developing countries in the decade 2001 - 2010. At the end of 2010 the shares were higher the higher the developing country income grouping.

But not all groups of developing countries followed this pattern over time: for example, low income economies and the least developed did not see an increase in the share of parts and components until the decade of the 1990s. Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EMENA) as well as the LDCs actually had lower ratios of parts and components in their imports at the end of the thirty years than at the beginning. By contrast, the BRICS raised their share drastically –more than doubling in the decade of the 1980s and maintained their growth, almost uninterrupted until 2010. These findings suggest an obvious imbalance in the importance of the value chains in different developing countries:
12 lower income developing economies, Sub-Saharan Africa and the LDCs appear to have benefited much less than middle and higher income countries.

**Table 6: Growth and Share of Parts & Component Products in Manufacturing Imports by Income Group and Region**

||Shar<br>M|e of Par<br>anuf. Im|ts & Co<br> ports(|mp in<br>%)|Annual<br>|Growth i<br>Impor<br>|n Parts &<br>ts(%)<br>|Comp<br>|Ann<br>|ual Grow<br>Impo<br>|th in Ma<br>rts(%)<br>|nuf.<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||1980-|1990-|2000-|1980-|1980-|1990-|2000-|1980-|
|CountryGroup|1980|1990|2000|2010|90|00|10|10|90|00|10|10|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||||||
|Developed economies|22.1|23.1|27.4|24.1|10.6|7.9|4.9|7.8|10.1|6.0|6.3|7.4|
|Developing economies|22.9|29.5|38.7|35.6|11.3|13.5|9.9|11.6|8.5|10.5|10.8|10.0|
|High income developing econ.|27.9|31.0|40.4|39.8|13.3|12.3|7.9|11.1|12.0|9.4|8.0|9.8|
|Upper middle income economies|20.3|30.2|39.0|35.9|10.2|16.0|11.2|12.4|6.0|13.1|12.1|10.3|
|Lower middle income economies|19.2|23.6|32.3|26.3|8.9|10.5|12.3|10.6|6.7|7.1|14.6|9.4|
|Low income economies|25.8|23.9|27.6|23.8|5.7|7.1|10.6|7.8|6.5|5.6|12.2|8.1|
|Of which: Least developed co.|25.4|24.1|27.7|23.8|6.2|7.6|11.0|8.3|6.8|6.2|12.7|8.5|
|**Memo:**|||||||||||||
|Developing econ, excl China & India|24.8|28.9|38.7|34.7|10.2|13.4|7.8|10.4|8.5|10.1|9.0|9.2|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|23.7|27.7|38.2|31.7|6.9|16.1|6.7|9.8|5.2|12.4|8.7|8.8|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|20.1|24.0|34.6|28.1|8.2|11.3|10.5|10.0|6.4|7.3|12.8|8.8|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||||||
|World|22.6|24.3|30.5|28.4|11.0|9.7|7.0|9.3|10.3|7.3|7.8|8.4|
|Developing economies|22.9|29.5|38.7|35.6|11.3|13.5|9.9|11.6|8.5|10.5|10.8|10.0|
|Asia|22.9|32.4|42.7|40.7|17.7|13.6|10.3|13.8|13.6|10.5|10.8|11.6|
|Latin America & Caribbean|21.9|20.5|33.2|29.6|1.8|21.8|7.1|9.9|2.5|16.1|8.4|8.8|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|24.3|26.9|27.1|20.6|2.4|5.9|11.5|6.5|1.3|5.8|14.5|7.1|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|21.8|22.9|22.9|20.9|6.4|2.3|13.4|7.3|5.9|2.3|14.4|7.4|
|**Memo:**|||||||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|13.3|28.2|35.6|34.3|18.8|12.3|17.5|16.1|10.2|9.6|17.9|12.5|
|OPEC 12 members|23.0|25.8|24.8|20.0|1.5|5.0|12.8|6.3|0.3|5.4|15.2|6.8|

Note: The classification of parts and components items is based on 75 products at SITC 2 to 5-digit level in revision 2, including textiles & clothing (65+61), machinery & transport equipment (7), metal manufacturing (69), other misc. manufactured goods (8), and manufacturing products are defined as SITC 5+6+7+8-68 in revision 2.

Source: Based on UN COMTRADE Statistics.
13 A significant portion of the growth in developing countries’ exports of manufactures as well as of commodities is the result of expanding trade among the developing countries themselves. China’s growth has been instrumental in this but trade among developing countries has grown rapidly in other regions as well. Part of this growth may be the result of preferential regional arrangements, but part can be explained by the fact that during most of the 1990s and 2000s growth in incomes in most developing country groupings outpaced that of developed countries. Table 7 shows that South-South trade grew faster than any other trade over the last 30 years. Indeed the share of this trade in the total world quadrupled over this period.

**Table 7: World Market Shares and Trade Growth in Developed and Developing Markets (North-North v.s. South-South Trade)**

|||World Tr<br>|ade Mar<br>|ket Shar<br>|e(in %) <br>|An<br>|nual Trade<br>|Growth(in<br>|%)<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Reporter|Partner|1980|1990|2000|2010|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|
|Developed econ (48)|Developed econ (48)|55.8|61.4|53.7|42.9|8.2|5.4|6.4|6.7|
|Developed econ (48)|Developing economies|27.2|18.5|18.5|19.6|3.1|6.9|9.4|6.4|
|Developed econ (48)|World|82.9|79.9|72.2|62.5|6.8|5.8|7.2|6.6|
|Developing econ (ROW)|Developed econ (48)|11.4|11.8|15.5|15.8|7.6|9.7|9.0|8.8|
|Developing econ (ROW)|Developing economies|5.6|8.2|12.3|21.7|11.3|11.2|15.2|12.5|
|Developing econ (ROW)|World|17.1|20.1|27.8|37.5|8.9|10.4|12.1|10.5|
|World|Developed econ (48)|67.2|73.3|69.2|58.7|8.1|6.2|7.0|7.1|
|World|Developing economies|32.8|26.7|30.8|41.3|5.0|8.4|12.0|8.4|
|World|World|100.0|100.0|100.0|100.0|7.2|6.8|8.8|7.6|

Source: Based on UN COMTRADE Statistics.
14 The improvement in the export performance of developing countries during the 1990s was due mainly to increased demand in the commodities they exported and to a much lesser extent to diversification or increases in the market shares of their traditional exports. While this is true for the developing countries as a whole, different regions had different experiences: both Asia and Latin America improved their competitive position. By contrast Sub-Saharan Africa experienced slow growth in world trade for its export basket, reflecting the continued decline in primary commodity prices and slow demand growth for these commodities. The same was true for the least developed (World Bank, 2000).

In the decade of the 2000s, the trends of the 1990s continued in many ways— except, of course, for the increase in African exports of raw materials, a relatively rapid growth of Latin America exports of foodstuffs and an expansion of exports of fuels from developed countries and the BRICS (See Appendix Tables B-1 and B-2). During this period practically developing income groups and regions improved their competitiveness with respect to developed countries overall and in most sectors (Hanson, 2011).

The overall weak export performance of the LDCs, in the 1980s and 1990s was largely due to their dependence upon a small range of primary commodities (usually two or three), for the bulk of their export earnings. On average the top three LDC export commodities account for over 70 percent of the each country’s exports, and with the exception of Bangladesh, few countries have any significant exports of manufactures. On average, manufactures, mainly textiles and clothing, constituted about 20 percent of total LDC exports in the 1990s (WTO, 1997). Although these exports grew substantially over this period, it was not possible to overcome the weak
15 performance of primary commodities which accounted for the bulk of LDC merchandise exports.

The situation changed drastically in the 2000s: both the volume and the prices of their primary commodity exports rose very rapidly and, while their manufacturing exports also increased, the share of primary commodities in their total exports rose from 58% in 2000 to 75% in 2011 while clothing fell from 18% in 2000 to 11% in 2011. China was the main force in this growth and Sub-Saharan LDCs the main beneficiaries: China’s share of LDC exports rose from 9% in 2000 to 22% in 2011, while the share of developed countries decreased by almost the exact same percentage (Ancharaz, 2012).

# **TRADE IN SERVICES**

Data on trade in services are far weaker than data on merchandise trade. Indeed many countries do not report data on certain service categories (Goswami, Mattoo and Saez, 2012; Mattoo, 2005; Whichard, 1999), and data are simply not available for a number of countries for certain periods.<sup>3</sup> Nonetheless, it is clear that growth of world trade in services in the thirty years 1980-2010 was faster than that for goods. Developing country service exports grew faster than those of developed countries for the period as a whole (9.7 percent compared to 7.7 percent) and for the last twenty years; their growth was only marginally lower in the 1980s. The same trends hold true for service imports except that the differences are less pronounced (see Tables 8-10).
16

**Table 8: World Commercial Service Exports and Shares by Income Group and Region**

||19|80<br> <br>|199|0<br> <br>|200|0<br>|201|0<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|Exports<br>($bill)|Share<br>(in %)|Exports<br>($bill)|Share<br>(in %)|Exports<br>($bill)|Share<br>(in %)|Exports<br>($bill)|Share<br>(in %)|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||
|Developed economies|290|75.0|669|80.6|1,182|77.1|2,650|70.0|
|Developing economies|63|16.2|141|17.0|303|19.7|1,000|26.4|
|High income developing economies|23|5.9|63|7.6|118|7.7|360|9.5|
|Upper middle income economies|25|6.5|48|5.8|126|8.2|390|10.3|
|Lower middle income economies|13|3.2|27|3.2|54|3.5|234|6.2|
|Low income economies|2|0.5|3|0.4|5|0.4|16|0.4|
|Of which: Least developed countries|2|0.5|3|0.4|6|0.4|17|0.4|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|57|14.9|131|15.8|256|16.7|707|18.7|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|23|5.9|42|5.1|96|6.2|220|5.8|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|10|2.5|22|2.7|37|2.4|111|2.9|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|387|100.0|830|100.0|1,535|100.0|3,784|100.0|
|Developing economies|63|16.2|141|17.0|303|19.7|1,000|26.4|
|Asia|26|6.6|87|10.5|196|12.8|742|19.6|
|Latin America & Caribbean|16|4.3|28|3.4|56|3.6|115|3.0|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|13|3.4|16|2.0|36|2.3|105|2.8|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|8|1.9|10|1.2|15|1.0|38|1.0|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|9|2.4|26|3.1|70|4.5|382|10.1|
|OPEC 12 members|10|2.5|8|0.9|15|1.0|30|0.8|

Source: Based on World Bank World Development Indicator database.
17

**Table 9: World Commercial Service Imports and Shares by Income Group and Region**

||19|80|19|90|20|00|2|010|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|Imports<br>($bill)|Share<br>(in %)|Imports<br>($bill)|Share<br>(in %)|Imports<br>($bill)|Share<br>(in %)|Imports<br>($bill)|Share<br>(in %)|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||
|Developed economies|275|66.6|661|78.7|1,102|74.2|2,263|65.5|
|Developing economies|106|25.6|163|19.4|352|23.7|1,098|31.8|
|High income developing economies|29|6.9|62|7.4|111|7.5|325|9.4|
|Upper middle income economies|47|11.4|60|7.2|152|10.3|478|13.8|
|Lower middle income economies|26|6.2|35|4.2|80|5.4|271|7.8|
|Low income economies|5|1.1|6|0.7|9|0.6|23|0.7|
|Of which: Least developed countries|6|1.4|8|1.0|12|0.8|44|1.3|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|101|24.4|153|18.2|297|20.0|789|22.8|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|45|10.9|56|6.7|117|7.8|286|8.3|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|23|5.5|29|3.5|61|4.1|155|4.5|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|413|100.0|839|100.0|1,486|100.0|3,456|100.0|
|Developing economies|106|25.6|163|19.4|352|23.7|1,098|31.8|
|Asia|27|6.5|80|9.5|209|14.1|705|20.4|
|Latin America & Caribbean|28|6.7|34|4.0|69|4.7|156|4.5|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|33|7.9|31|3.6|48|3.2|147|4.3|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|18|4.4|19|2.2|25|1.7|89|2.6|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|12|3.0|36|4.3|92|6.2|458|13.2|
|OPEC 12 members|38|9.1|28|3.3|38|2.6|137|4.0|

Source: Based on World Bank World Development Indicator database.
18

# **Table 10: Growth in World Commercial Service Exports and Imports by Income Group and Region**

||A|nnual Expor|t Growth(in|%)|An|nual Import|Growth(in|%)|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||
|Developed economies|8.7|5.9|8.4|7.7|9.2|5.3|7.5|7.3|
|Developing economies|8.4|7.9|12.7|9.7|4.4|8.0|12.0|8.1|
|High income developing economies|10.7|6.4|11.8|9.6|8.0|6.1|11.3|8.4|
|Upper middle income economies|6.6|10.1|12.0|9.5|2.5|9.8|12.1|8.0|
|Lower middle income economies|7.9|7.2|15.9|10.3|3.2|8.5|13.0|8.2|
|Low income economies|4.8|5.8|11.0|7.2|2.6|3.9|10.7|5.6|
|Of which: Least developed countries|3.6|6.5|11.4|7.1|3.2|4.3|13.7|7.0|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|8.6|7.0|10.7|8.7|4.2|6.9|10.3|7.1|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|6.3|8.5|8.7|7.8|2.2|7.6|9.4|6.4|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|8.6|5.5|11.5|8.5|2.6|7.6|9.8|6.6|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|7.9|6.3|9.4|7.9|7.3|5.9|8.8|7.3|
|Developing economies|8.4|7.9|12.7|9.7|4.4|8.0|12.0|8.1|
|Asia|13.0|8.4|14.2|11.9|11.4|10.1|12.9|11.5|
|Latin America & Caribbean|5.4|7.1|7.6|6.7|2.0|7.5|8.5|5.9|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|2.2|8.2|11.3|7.2|-0.6|4.6|11.9|5.2|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|2.5|4.7|9.7|5.6|0.2|3.0|13.5|5.4|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|10.5|10.4|18.6|13.1|11.1|9.9|17.4|12.8|
|OPEC 12 members|-2.4|6.7|7.3|3.8|-3.1|3.3|13.6|4.4|

Source: Based on World Bank World Development Indicator database.
19 The regional growth patterns in services trade were similar to those in goods. The Asian developing countries’ trade grew the fastest, and Sub-Saharan Africa’s the slowest with Latin America and the Europe, Middle East and North Africa the Mediterranean, in between (Table 10). Growth over the period as a whole was associated with the per capita income levels of the various developing country groups, especially if you take India out of the lower middle income group (Table 10).

Different developing countries have been successful in exporting different kinds of services: India is well known for its exports of software and business services. In Latin America, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay are among successful cases of exporters of information technology, communication and distribution services. Kenya and South Africa are among Sub-Saharan Africa countries exporting professional services to Europe; and a range of different countries in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa are exporters of health services (Goswami, Mattoo and Saez, 2012).

Table 11 shows the growth rates of service exports by main sector for different developing country groupings. The growth in financial and insurance services in the 1990s for countries in Asia and the BRICS during the last decade is especially noteworthy. Similarly there was very large growth in the export of information technology exports in the period 2000-2010 in practically all developing country groups except for Sub-Saharan Africa.
# **Table 11: Growth in Sectoral Exports of Commercial Services by Income Group and Region**

||Tra<br>|nsport S<br>|ervice Ex<br>|ports<br>|T<br>|Annu<br>ravel Ser<br>|al % Gro<br>vice Expo<br>|wth Rate i<br>rts<br>|n Service<br>Insuranc<br>|Exports(<br>e & Finan<br>|%)<br> <br>cial Servi<br>|ce Exp<br>|Info,Te<br>|ch & Oth<br>|er Servic<br>|e Exports<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|1980-<br>90|1990-<br>00|2000-<br>10|1980-<br>10|1980-<br>90|1990-<br>00|2000-<br>10|1980-<br>10|1980-<br>90|1990-<br>00|2000-<br>10|1980-<br>10|1980-<br>90|1990-<br>00|2000-<br>10|1980-<br>10|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||||||||||
|Developed economies|4.1|5.2|7.2|5.5|10.5|5.9|4.9|7.1|18.6|10.5|11.4|13.4|7.5|8.9|10.6|9.0|
|Developing economies|4.7|10.1|11.8|8.8|8.1|9.1|11.3|9.5|1.4|19.8|15.2|11.9|5.1|12.5|16.3|11.2|
|High income Developing|3.9|19.6|10.4|11.1|8.4|7.9|14.8|10.3|2.4|49.6|15.5|20.9|1.4|14.5|13.5|9.6|
|Upper Middle income|5.8|5.0|12.5|7.7|8.3|9.5|9.9|9.2|1.0|10.2|11.2|7.3|4.9|14.9|16.8|12.1|
|Lower Middle income|3.7|3.6|15.1|7.4|7.2|9.9|10.9|9.3|2.5|11.8|23.2|12.2|11.5|7.6|20.0|12.9|
|Low income|1.4|3.4|12.5|5.7|6.7|6.6|10.8|8.1|9.1|2.5|18.1|9.7|5.4|5.2|9.5|6.7|
|Of which: Least developed co.|1.6|3.2|10.8|5.1|6.0|9.6|12.5|9.4|9.3|10.8|4.1|8.0|4.7|6.0|5.2|5.3|
|**Memo:**|||||||||||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|4.3|10.8|10.0|8.3|8.5|7.7|11.2|9.1|1.1|21.2|13.5|11.6|4.5|10.9|12.6|9.3|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|5.4|5.3|7.6|6.1|8.2|6.9|9.5|8.2|1.0|11.3|8.7|6.9|4.0|12.3|11.1|9.1|
|Lower middle income, excl. India|3.1|2.8|12.8|6.2|10.0|10.2|9.9|10.0|-0.1|9.5|10.2|6.4|12.2|2.2|12.5|8.9|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||||||||||
|World|5.0|4.8|8.3|6.0|10.6|5.1|7.1|7.6|12.6|9.4|12.0|11.3|7.7|8.3|11.3|9.1|
|Developing economies|4.7|10.1|11.8|8.8|8.1|9.1|11.3|9.5|1.4|19.8|15.2|11.9|5.1|12.5|16.3|11.2|
|Asia|8.0|14.8|12.4|11.7|13.0|11.1|12.3|12.1|3.1|33.5|16.9|17.2|8.7|14.6|17.5|13.5|
|Latin America & Caribbean|4.7|3.8|8.3|5.6|7.3|6.8|5.8|6.6|0.3|12.2|5.9|6.0|3.4|11.1|10.7|8.3|
|Europe, Middle East, & N. Africa|2.6|3.9|12.3|6.2|0.7|9.6|16.1|8.6|8.4|12.4|29.0|16.3|-4.3|3.6|17.6|5.2|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|-1.9|2.6|10.1|3.5|4.6|4.6|11.7|6.9|1.2|3.2|8.8|4.3|7.3|5.9|2.8|5.3|
|**Memo:**|||||||||||||||||
|BRICS-5|6.1|7.5|19.3|10.8|5.6|15.5|11.7|10.9|2.6|9.2|23.2|11.4|8.6|20.7|22.4|17.1|
|OPEC-12|-4.5|4.0|11.9|3.6|-8.5|5.3|20.2|5.0|-8.6|11.4|19.2|6.7|-8.8|3.1|12.6|1.9|

Source: Based on World Bank World Development Indicator database.
The picture regarding service imports is very similar to that of service exports with only one interesting difference: LDC service imports for the period as a whole as well as for all sub-periods tended to grow much faster than for non-LDC low income economies. This is probably due to very rapid expansion of service imports by Bangladesh.

The overall conclusion that emerges from these findings, are that the patterns of growth both for exports and imports of merchandise trade and commercial services have been very similar for different developing country groupings whether by region or by income level. There is particularly striking similarity in their growth performance in the 2000s which far outpaces that of developed countries during this period.

# **INTEGRATION IN WORLD TRADE**

A key indicator of a country’s integration into world trade is the ratio of the total trade in both goods and services (exports plus imports) to GDP. Essentially it shows how much of a country’s economy is directly affected by international trade. This indicator is especially useful in determining the links between a country’s economy and international trade over time, but it has to be used with caution when making comparisons between countries. This is because large countries tend to have smaller ratios of trade to GDP than small economies. Also, the existence of large enclave type export sectors in some developing countries may give the false impression that the economy is well integrated into the world trading system, while in practice the bulk of economic activity may be subsistence domestic production.
22 Tables 12 and 13 show the evolution of this indicator of integration in developing countries, grouped by income level and over time for the period 19802010. After stagnating during the 1980s (and declining for some groups), the trade/GDP ratio recovered, rose rapidly and was substantially higher for all developing country income groupings by the end of the 1990s and increased further in the last decade. Since 2000 the ratio is higher for all developing country groups than for developed countries.

One study (Frankel and Romer, 1999) using earlier data estimated that the ratio of trade to GDP is strongly and positively related to growth in incomes: an increase in the ratio by one percent can raise the level of income by anywhere between 0.5 and 2 percent. It is unclear whether the experience of the last decade would support this finding, as a number of very large countries with relatively low ratios of trade to GDP grew very rapidly—as did some small and poor countries.

Interestingly, with the exception of the high income developing countries, the data show an inverse relationship between the level of per capita income and the share of trade to GDP. As noted earlier however, inter-country comparisons of this indicator are risky: some of the most rapid growth in the LDCs resulted from booming commodity exports which had little impact on the rest of their economies. The only thing can be stated definitively is the very strong evidence of globalization at every developing country income level and grouping.
23

**Table 12: Growth Rates in Total Trade (X+M) and Output by Income Group and Region**

||Annu|al Trade(g|+s)Growth|(in %)|A|nnual GDP|Growth(in|%)|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|1980-90|1990-00|2000-10|1980-10|
|**BY INCOME LEVEL**|||||||||
|Developed economies|7.8|5.2|7.3|6.8|8.4|3.4|5.3|5.7|
|Developing economies|5.4|9.4|12.0|8.9|5.0|6.5|11.6|7.7|
|High income developing economies|6.6|9.6|9.4|8.5|7.1|7.9|7.1|7.3|
|Upper middle income economies|5.4|10.1|13.4|9.6|4.9|7.0|12.7|8.1|
|Lower middle income economies|3.4|7.7|14.0|8.2|3.8|4.4|12.8|6.9|
|Low income economies|3.1|4.1|12.0|6.3|4.1|1.5|9.9|5.1|
|Of which: Least developed countries|2.7|5.8|14.6|7.6|4.2|1.7|12.8|6.1|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|Developing econ, excl. China & India|5.2|8.7|9.9|7.9|4.8|5.7|9.4|6.6|
|Upper middle income, excl. China|4.8|8.2|9.7|7.6|4.6|5.1|9.7|6.5|
|Lower middle income,excl. India|3.0|7.2|11.5|7.2|2.7|4.8|12.4|6.6|
|**BY REGION**|||||||||
|World|6.5|6.2|8.8|7.2|7.1|3.9|6.9|6.0|
|Developing economies|5.4|9.4|12.0|8.9|5.0|6.5|11.6|7.7|
|Asia|10.1|10.8|12.3|11.1|7.9|7.8|12.8|9.5|
|Latin America & Caribbean|3.9|9.8|9.2|7.6|4.1|6.3|9.3|6.6|
|Europe, Middle East & North Africa|0.1|5.4|13.5|6.2|2.1|4.8|10.9|5.9|
|Sub-Saharan Africa|0.0|3.9|12.9|5.5|1.3|1.3|12.5|4.9|
|**Memo:**|||||||||
|BRICS 5 countries|10.6|8.6|18.2|12.4|9.8|4.3|15.7|9.8|
|OPEC 12 members|-1.9|6.2|14.2|6.0|-0.6|5.0|12.1|5.4|

Source: Computations based on World Bank World Development Indicator database.
24

## **Table 13: World Total Trade (X+M) and Share in Output by Income Group**

||Wor<br>|ld Trade<br>|(g+s)in$ <br>|billion<br>|Ou<br>|tput(GDP<br>|)in$billi<br>|on<br>|Tota<br>|l Trade<br>|as % of G<br>|DP<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|CountryGroup|1980|1990|2000|2010|1980|1990|2000|2010|1980|1990|2000|2010|
|Developed economies|3,198|6,775|11,275|22,758|8,206|18,329|25,491|42,813|39.0|37.0|44.2|53.2|
|Developing economies|1,094|1,856|4,561|14,108|2,188|3,569|6,700|19,995|50.0|52.0|68.1|70.6|
|High income developing|401|762|1,914|4,693|365|723|1,543|3,057|110.1|105.4|124.1|153.5|
|Upper middle income|437|740|1,935|6,822|1,198|1,935|3,801|12,517|36.5|38.2|50.9|54.5|
|Lower middle income|220|307|642|2,374|542|788|1,212|4,050|40.6|39.0|53.0|58.6|
|Low income|35|47|70|219|83|124|144|370|41.4|37.9|48.7|59.1|
|Of which: LDCs|41|53|93|366|95|143|169|562|43.0|37.1|55.3|65.1|
|World|4,671|8,747|15,989|37,198|11,021|21,977|32,329|63,136|42.4|39.8|49.5|58.9|
|**Memo:**|||||||||||||
|Developing econ, excl.|||||||||||||
|China & India|1,024|1,702|3,905|9,998|1,809|2,886|5,026|12,380|56.6|59.0|77.7|80.8|
|Upper middle income,<br>excl. China|396|636|1,404|3,549|1,008|1,578|2,603|6,587|39.3|40.3|54.0|53.9|
|Lower middle income,<br>excl. India|192|257|516|1,537|352|461|737|2,366|54.4|55.8|70.0|65.0|
|BRICS 5 countries|168|459|1,043|5,563|695|1,774|2,710|11,609|24.2|25.8|38.5|47.9|

Source: World Bank WDI database.

# **POLICY ISSUES**

This strong overall trade performance—with some exceptions, for example Sub-Saharan Africa in manufactures-- raises a lot of questions about the factors responsible, the implications for the architecture of the trading system as well as its sustainability.

How much of this growth was due to the developing countries own policies? To what extent improved market access resulted from the implementation of multilateral trade liberalization following the Uruguay Round Agreements as well as the establishment of numerous regional preferential arrangements? Following the
25 2008 crisis, protectionism has reared its ugly head again—but much less than had been feared (Wolf, 2011; Dadush, Ali and Odell, 2011).

To what extent does the robust developing country performance reflect the strengthening of their capacity to export, although weaknesses in trade institutions and infrastructure continue to be a problem in many low income developing countries and the least developed? And what does about the impact of this growth on poverty and income inequality?

Partly as a consequence of the strong trade performance, in the last decade the role developing countries play in global trade relations has changed dramatically; and they have become increasingly assertive in global trade negotiations in the WTO. What does this mean for the future of the WTO?

Finally, to what extent are these trends sustainable? The slow-down in China’s and India’s growth, Europe’s continued problems with the euro and US’s slow recovery pose obvious dangers. Commodity trade booms are often followed by busts. While protectionism has not been as bad as it has been feared, the cumulative effect of protective measures may have an impact over time.

All these issues create obvious risks for the sustainability of the surge in developing country trade. But we should not allow these risks to overshadow what has been accomplished in the last thirty years. The world tomorrow will be very different from the world of the 1980s and developing countries will play a much more important role in the future trading system because of what they have accomplished already.

Overall averages disguise stagnation in many countries. On the other hand, the successful performance of many countries, several of which are low income,
26 suggests that marginalization, stagnation and poverty are not inevitable. Countries can integrate in the world economy, grow and alleviate poverty. The key questions have to do with the policies and institutions both in the countries themselves and in the international environment that can support this objective; and in this context,the role played by international trade and the WTO.

# **Endnotes:**

- 1 For a description of developing county and group coverage, see Appendix A. 2 For a list of parts and component products, see Appendix B Table 3.

- 3 For example: countries of the former Soviet Union in the period before 1995.