Over the past century, international trade in goods and services has expanded more than 40-fold, increasing from a fraction of global output in 1904 to over 59 percent of world GDP today. Countries that are deeply integrated into global value chains, trading in higher-value and more complex goods, are among the most prosperous nations today. The ability to move up the value chain—from exporting raw materials to producing high-value manufactured goods—has defined the development trajectories of fast-growing economies such as South Korea, China, and Singapore. This prosperity remains unevenly distributed. A country’s share of global production and the complexity of its exports directly correlate with its level of economic development. The world’s poorest economies tend to trade lower-value primary goods and face constraints that limit manufacturing growth and industrial diversification. As a result, developing countries, home to nearly 90 percent of the world’s population, struggle to compete on equal footing in international trade.
Trade as an Engine of Socioeconomic Transformation (Kekeli Ahiable, Observer Research Foundation)
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