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DOHA WTO MINISTERIAL 2001:BRIEFING NOTES

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

Data for Doha

(All figures from the WTO unless source specified) back to top

World trade and output  
Selected Indicators, 1948-2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average annual change %

 

1948

1950

1973

1990

2000

1948–73

1973–00

1948–00

1990–00

World merchandise exports

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Billion current $

58

61

579

3,338

6,186

9.7

9.2

9.4

6.0

Billion constant 1990$

304

376

1797

3,338

6,627

7.4

5.0

6.1

6.9

Exports per capita, 1990$

123

149

458

645

1,094

5.4

3.3

4.3

5.4

World exports of manufactures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Billion current $

22

23

348

2,390

4,630

11.7

10.1

10.8

6.8

Billion constant 1990$

93

112

955

2,390

5,031

9.8

6.3

8.0

7.7

Exports per capita, 1990$

38

44

244

455

831

7.8

4.6

6.1

6.2

World output
(Indices, 1990=100)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total merchandise production

16.9

18.4

64.3

100.0

126.5

5.5

2.5

3.9

2.4

— manufacturing output

10.9

12.8

60.3

100.0

130.2

7.1

2.9

4.9

2.7

GDP(billion, 1990$)

3,935

4,285

13,408

22,490

28,115

5.0

2.8

3.9

2.3

GDPper capita(1990$)

1,591

1,700

3,420

4,280

4,642

3.1

1.1

2.1

0.8

GDP (billion, current $, at market rates) a

…

775

4,908

22,490

32,236

8.4

7.2

7.7

3.7

World population (million)

2,473

2,521

3,920

5,255

6,057

1.9

1.6

1.7

1.4

Exports of goods and services, to GDP, at constant 1987 prices, %

…

8.0

14.9

19.7

29.5

…

…

…

…

a   Growth rates refer to 1950 instead of 1948.

Sources. Population: UN World Population Prospects. GDP, current: IMF World Economic Outlook. GDP, 1987 prices: World Bank and WTO. Trade: WTO International Trade Statistics

 

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World trade and output growth by sector, 2000  

(Annual percentage change in volume)

 

Exports

Output

Manufactures

14.5

6.0

Agricultural products

8.0

1.0

Mining products

0.5

3.5

Total merchandise

12.0

4.5

GDP

 

4.0

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, chart 1

  

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World exports of merchandise and commercial services, 1990–2001  

(Billion dollars and percentage)

 

Value

Annual percentage change

 

2000

1990–2000

1999

2000

2001

Merchandise

6186

6.0

4.0

12.5

1.0

Commercial services

1435

6.0

2.0

6.0

…

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, table 1

 

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Least-developed countries (LDCs), merchandise exports by selected country group, 1990–2000  

(Billion dollars and percentage)

 

Value

Annual percentage change

 

2000

1990–2000

1998

1999

2000

Total LDCs

34

7

-6

12

28

Oil exporters (4) a

15

11

-30

50

63

Exporters of manufactures (7) b

11

14

20

5

23

Commodity exporters (29)

8

1

-1

-6

-3

LDCs with civil strife (6) c

1

-7

-12

-8

-3

World

6186

6.0

-1.5

4.0

12.5

a   Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and Yemen.

b   Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao People’s Dem. Rep., Lesotho, Madagascar, Myanmar and Nepal.

c   Afghanistan, Burundi, Congo Dem. Rep, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Somalia.

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, table 8

 

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Developing economies trade and output growth, 1990-2000  

(Annual percentage change)

 

Developing economies

World

 

1999

2000

1990–2000

1990–2000

GDP

3.0

5.2

4.5

2.8

Merchandise export volume

7.0

15.0

9.0

7.0

Merchandise import volume

4.5

15.5

8.0

7.0

Merchandise export value

9.5

24.0

9.0

6.0

Merchandise import value

4.0

21.0

9.0

6.0

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, table 2

 

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Gulf Cooperation Council states, merchandise trade 

 

 

 

Average annual change %

 

Total merchandise trade
2000
$bn

Trade per capita
2000
$

Exports growth
1990–2000

Exports growth
2000

Imports growth
1990–2000

Imports growth
2000

Bahrain

10.3

15,540

4.3

39.7

2.2

28.5

Kuwait

27.2

12,810

10.7

60.0

6.7

0.1

Oman

16.4

6,780

7.5

56.7

6.5

7.8

Qatar

12.7

22,500

9.2

30.0

7.0

33.6

Saudi Arabia

114.4

5,340

6.6

65.6

2.3

8.2

United Arab Emirates

71.8

26,810

6.8

28.6

11.0

4.1

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, chart 9

 

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Acceding countries’ merchandise trade: China, Chinese Taipei, Vanuatu 

 

 

 

Average annual change %

 

Total merchandise trade
2000

Trade per capita
2000
$

Exports growth
1990–2000

Exports growth
2000

Imports growth
1990–2000

Imports growth
2000

China

$ 474.4bn

370

14.9

27.7

15.5

35.8

Taipei, Chinese

$  288.3bn

12,930

8.2

22.1

9.8

26.2

Vanuatu

$ 95m

470

2.8

–3.8

–3.1

–27.1

Source: WTO International Trade Statistics 2001, overview, chart 10

  

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GATT/WTO: 50 years of tariff reductions 

MFN tariff reduction of industrial countries for industrial products, excluding petroleum

Implementation period

Round covered

Weighted tariff reduction

1948–63

First five GATT rounds (1947–62) a

–36

1968–72

Kennedy Round (1964–67) b

–37

1980–87

Tokyo Round (1973–1979) c

–33

1995–99

Uruguay Round (1986–94) d

–38

Note: Tariff reductions for the first five trade rounds refer to US only

a Source: US Tariff Commission, Operations of the Trade Agreements Program,
1st to 13th report covering June 1934 to June 1960

b refers to four markets: US, Japan, EC(6), and UK.
Source: Ernest H Preeg, Traders and Diplomats, Tables 13-1 to 13–4
and WTO calculations based on 1964 import values

c refers to eight markets: US, EU(9), Japan, Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
Source: GATT, COM.TD/W/315, 4.7.1980, p.20–21 and WTO calculations

d refers to eight markets: US, EU(12), Japan, Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
Source: GATT, The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations,
November 1994, Appendix Table 5 and WTO calculations

 

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52 years of GATT/WTO 1948-2000 

  • Merchandise trade in real terms grew by 6% annually, or 22 fold.
  • Merchandise output grew by 4% annually, or 7 fold.
  • The ratio of goods and services to GDP rose from 8% in 1950 to 29.5% in 2000 (measured in constant 1987 prices)
  • Aggregate world trade in 2000 was $7.6 trillion, of which $6.2 trillion (81%) was merchandise and $1.4 trillion (19%) was commercial services. (Merchandise trade in 1948 was $58 billion.)
  • GDP per capita grew by 2% annually.
  • On average, per capita income is nearly 3 times higher in 2000 than in 1948.

 

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FDI flows and global integration 

  • Global FDI flows grew 53 fold (or 16% annually) between 1973 and 2000.
  • Global FDI flows reached $1271 billion in 2000 ($24 billion in 1973, $60 billion in 1985).
  • Global FDI inward stock rose 10 fold since 1980 or 12% annually.
  • Global FDI inward stock stood at $6,310 billion in 2000.
  • Cross-border mergers & acquisitions topped $1,144 billion in 2000, nearly 8 times the average of $145 billion during 1990-94.
  • The ratio of FDI inward stock to GDP nearly tripled between 1980 and 2000 globally, from 6.0% to 17.3%.
  • For developing countries, the corresponding ratio almost tripled from 10.2% to 28.0%.
  • For least-developed countries, the ratio rose five fold from 2.8% in 1980 to 14.2% in 2000.

(Source: UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2001.)

 

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Duty-free treatment for imports from least-developed countries 

  • In 2000, US imports from the 48 least-developed countries (LDCs) amounted to $8.9 billion or 0.7% of total US merchandise imports.
  • If US granted duty-free treatment to imports from LDCs, the US tariff revenue loss would be $673 million out of a total US tariff revenue of $19,700 million.

(Source: US Department of Commerce.)

 

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Global benefits from 40% cuts in trade protection  
(Figures from World Bank conference paper "Agriculture & Non-Agricultural Liberalization in the Millennium Round", October 1999)

Estimated global gains as a result of 40% cuts in protection by 2005 in the following areas:

  • Agricultural subsidies & market price support $69.3 billion
  • Tariffs on manufactures & mining products $69.6 billion
  • Business, finance & construction services $21.6 billion
  • Trade, transport & government services $332.6 billion