World Bank - Trade Expanded Despite Policy Uncertainty

Trade Expanded Despite Policy Uncertainty

Key messages:

• Global goods trade expanded in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period of 2024 despite higher trade-policy uncertainty.
• Trade in services, which is reported with a lag, expanded in the January-to-May period, and international tourist arrivals continued to exceed pre-pandemic levels in most regions.
• Stress in global supply chains remained high, but container-fleet expansion helped restrain shipping costs.