They expect trade in goods to contract by almost two trillion dollars this year (8.0 percent), but trade in services should increase by about 500 billion dollars (7.0 percent).

The entity attributed this contraction in world trade in part to a poor export performance of developing countries.

The report added that world trade experienced a decline throughout 2023, influenced mainly by declining demand in developed nations, underperforming East Asian economies and falling commodity prices.

These factors collectively contributed to a marked contraction of trading goods, UNCTAD message quoted, and also noted that the forecast for world trade in 2024 remains highly uncertain and in general pessimistic.

jrr/jav/mgt/rfc