Global maritime trade growth is slowing, the latest data shows, in a sign that the global economic slowdown is underway and a recession in major markets could soon materialize, threatening oil demand.
The latest Goods Trade Barometer from the World Trade Organization (WTO) showed at the end of August that global trade growth is stagnating. The indicator “was steady but below the recent trend line for merchandise trade, suggesting that global goods trade continued to grow in the second quarter of 2022 but that the pace of growth was slower than in Q1 and is likely to remain weak in the second half of the year,” the WTO said.
The latest barometer reading is in line with the WTO’s most recent trade forecast from April, which predicted 3.0% growth in the volume of world merchandise trade in 2022.