World trade registers modest growth in first quarter: WTO

Geneva: World trade grew by a modest 0.7 percent during January-March quarter of this year, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has said.

The volume of world merchandise trade "increased modestly" in the first quarter of 2015, with both exports and imports registering slower growth than over the previous six months, the WTO said in a statement.

According to preliminary estimates, "world trade as measured by the average of exports and imports, grew 0.7 per cent in the first three months of 2015, based on seasonally adjusted data," it said.

It said world exports increased by 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year, down from the 2.1 per cent growth registered in the previous quarter.

Similarly, imports grew by 0.9 per cent in the same period, down 1.5 per cent from the previous quarter.

"Exports from developing and emerging economies rose 1.5 per cent in the first quarter, with all regions except Asia registering growth of 3 per cent or greater," it added.

In contrast, exports from developed countries fell by 0.5 per cent in the same period, with US exports decelerating by 4.5 per cent. Further, it said developing and emerging economies increased their imports by 0.6 per cent in the first quarter, with South and Central America and the Caribbean registering strong import growth at 6.8 per cent.

"Developed economies increased their imports by 1.3 per cent, led by stronger import growth in Europe and North America," it added.

Growth in imports in the developed countries particularly in these two regions is a good news for India at a time when the country's exports continue to be in the negative zone.

Europe and North America are the major export destinations for Indian goods. It accounts for about 30 per cent of India's total exports.

Contracting for the sixth month in a row, India's exports dipped by 20.19 per cent in May to $ 22.34 billion mainly due to global slowdown and dip in crude oil prices.

According to a WTO forecast, global trade is set to expand by 3.3 per cent this year and by 4 per cent in 2016, less than previous forecast due to sluggish growth in the global GDP.