Chart of the Week: Global trade growth

  With U.S. tariffs back in the news, it’s worthwhile to remind ourselves of the path global trade has been on and how it has exploded over the last half-century. As our Chart of the Week shows, the real value of global trade was 646% higher in 2024 than in 1975. The global population has grown over this period, but more people does not automatically translate into more trade. First and foremost, traders and governments have to think it is worthwhile.

Two other key factors help explain the increase: 1) Technology has made trade easier, enabled supply chains to become more integrated, and expanded the range of products and services available to exchange. 2) Trade liberalization has reduced the artificial barriers to the movement of goods and services that governments create. Many of these barriers remain, including the new ones erected by the U.S., but they are not the impediment they once were.