Developing countries' exports grew faster than total world exports, which expanded by 20 per cent.

The value of world exports amounted to 8.9 trillion.

Sub Saharan Africa's merchandise exports stood at 146 billion in 2004, accounting for a modest share of 1.6 per cent of world exports.

The ESCAP region is a major contributor to world trade growth, with both exports and imports growing faster than world exports and imports and with China becoming the world's third largest trading nation.

Sources UNCTAD, Handbook of Statistics, 2004 (exports and imports of merchandise) and World Bank, World Development Indicators 2005 (GDP).

Ten most dynamic commodities in world exports (ranked by growth in export value), 1985 2002.

If Africa enjoyed the same share of the world exports today as it did in 1980, its exports today would be some 119 billion higher (in constant 2000 dollars).

In the mid 1950s, the share of sub Saharan Africa in world exports was 3.1 per cent.

The value of world exports of iron and steel (Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) position 67) doubled in the period 1985 2002 from US 70.3 billion to US 143.2 billion, while their share in world total merchandise exports fell from 3.64 per cent to 2.27 per cent and their share in world commodities exports rose by 0.5 per cent (from 10.2 per cent in 1985 to 10.7 per cent in 2002).

Thus, steel products as a group were less dynamic than world exports but slightly more dynamic than commodities.

World exports of finished and semi finished steel increased from 245.4 Mt. in 1996 to 337.9 Mt. in 2003.

Their share in world merchandise exports increased from 24 per cent in 1990 to 33 per cent in 2004.

The current trend is quite evident companies world wide are facing a growing number of non tariff barriers to exports.

Exports

(b) Exports

Moreover, France will enjoy large gains from exports to the fast growing emerging world, since it produces more competitive high value added goods than, for example, southern European countries, whose exports are closer to those of the leading emerging countries.

Sources OECD, statistical annex to 2004 Development Cooperation Report (net ODA receipts, ODA GNI) UNCTAD, Handbook of Statistics, 2004 (exports of merchandise) World Bank, World Development Indicators 2005 (external debt, GDP).

World Bank data indicate that tariffs imposed by developing countries on exports from other developing countries are often set at above average levels.

At some stage, the world may no longer catch a cold when the US sneezes, but that is far from being true now. Twenty one percent of China s exports and 23 of the EU s exports to non member countries go to the US.

(c) Imports exports

If the country is a producer of the commodity in question, it may use export controls to insulate domestic consumers from increases in the world price. In 2008, India capped rice exports, and Argentina did the same for wheat exports, as did Russia in 2010.

Not only has Africa remained commodity dependent, but it has fallen behind other developing regions of the world in exports of non fuel primary commodities.

As regards trade in services, world exports in commercial services expanded by 16 per cent to reach a total value of 2.1 trillion in 2004.

The Import of Exports

Monitoring exports of ordnance

The share of developing countries in world total exports of services was 22 per cent in 2003, while their share in imports was 24 per cent.

In value terms, the share of developing countries in world iron and steel exports (SITC position 67 Iron and steel) increased from 14 per cent in 1985 to 25 per cent in 2002, reflecting an average annual increase in developing country steel exports of 7.9 per cent.

Decoupling did not occur in 2008, when exports accounted for about 45 of pan Asian GDP (excluding Japan) and every emerging country in the region experienced a sharp contraction in growth as world trade plummeted. Nor is decoupling likely today, because exports still account for about the same share of the region s GDP, and about 50 of these exports are still headed to developed countries.

Imports exceeded exports last year.

The major exporters are the EU, the CIS, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Brazil, which together accounted for 49 per cent of world exports in 2004.

Its direct influence on trade may be less immediately obvious, since its share of world exports has never exceeded 4 per cent and its share of world imports reached its highest point in 2003 at 15.5 per cent.

Thus, the US slowdown affects European exports in two ways. It has an indirect effect on European exports to Asia, which can be sizeable because the US market is so important for Asian exports.

With the exception of Qatar, this led to an increase in the share of oil exports in total 2004 exports.

Qatar's share of oil in total exports has continuously declined, while its exports of liquid natural gas have increased substantially.

Some cassiterite exports also include wolframite.

6132 For purposes other than exports

In Africa, the share of manufacturing exports of about 30 per cent in 2000 represented an increase of only 10 percentage points compared with the 1980 share, while the continent's share of world merchandise exports fell from 6.3 per cent in 1980 to 2.5 per cent in 2000 in value terms.

That situation is the result of such factors as a decline in official development assistance unfair international terms of trade the imposition of restrictions on the access of their exports to world markets unfair prices for their commodity exports a heavy external debt burden and the adverse effects of globalization.

In other words, Germany s role in the world economy is shifting from that of a producer to that of a merchant. As a result, its exports contain an ever increasing share of imported goods and services and the share of domestic value added in its exports per unit of output is rapidly declining.

There is no evidence of timber exports.

Among the nine positions within SITC 67, only one, namely Iron and Steel Casting Unworked (SITC position 679), appears among the 10, having doubled its share of world commodity exports.

According to UNCTAD, in 2003, the shares of landlocked developing countries in total exports and imports of world merchandise remained very small, 0.57 per cent and 0.64 per cent, respectively.

This does not mean that the German made share of exports is falling in absolute terms. It only means that the total volume of German exports has been rising faster than the total German value added in those exports.

Zambia Anti competitive restrictions on exports of cement

Illegal charcoal exports and port revenues in Kismaayo