BRIEF April 21, 2026

Trade Watch

To receive Trade Watch updates, email: tradewatch@worldbank.org with Subject line: Subscribe.
 

Reshaping Trade to Sustain Resilience

  • Global goods trade expanded in 2025, driven by strong demand for AI-related products, relatively low shipping costs, and the resilience of global value chains — which adapted to policy turbulence through trade diversion and creation.
  • Trade in services continued to grow in 2025 led by strong growth in digitally delivered services.
  • Shipping costs remained relatively low through February 2026, as rapid container fleet expansion kept freight rates in check despite ongoing supply-chain pressures.



Trade Watch—a joint product of the Trade and International Integration Unit in the World Bank’s Research Group (DECRG) and the Trade Unit in the Trade, Investment, and Competition (TIC) department of the World Bank—provides up-to-date data from an array of sources, along with analysis of recent trade developments.

About the Trade Watch series

The series relies on real-time shipping data, official trade statistics for goods and services, and other sources to provide a perspective on how trade is responding to the latest economic developments.
 

Past issues of Trade Watch

3rd Quarter 2025

2nd Quarter 2025

1st Quarter 2025

4th Quarter 2024

3rd Quarter 2024

2nd Quarter 2024

1st Quarter 2024

4th Quarter 2023

3rd Quarter 2023

2nd Quarter 2023

1st Quarter 2023


➡️ View all past issues of Trade Watch


To receive Trade Watch updates, email: tradewatch@worldbank.org with Subject line: Subscribe.


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