The World Trade Organization (WTO) has released a report detailing an increase in trade restrictions over the past year. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reported that 169 new trade-restrictive measures were introduced by WTO members, covering an estimated USD 887.7 billion in trade from October 2023 to mid-October 2024. This figure represents a significant rise from the previous year's USD 337.1 billion.
Despite this, there was also an increase in trade-facilitating measures, such as tariff reductions and simplified import procedures, which covered USD 1,440.4 billion worth of goods—up from USD 977.2 billion in the prior period. The majority of the 134 services-related measures introduced were also aimed at facilitating trade.
Okonjo-Iweala expressed concern about the growing number of trade restrictions: "There is little meaningful roll-back of existing trade restrictions. That means the stockpile of trade restrictions continues to grow." As of mid-October 2024, these import restrictions affected USD 2,942 billion or 11.8% of world imports, compared to USD 2,480 billion or 9.9% a year earlier.
She further noted that "export restrictions are also gaining momentum," with such measures affecting USD 276.7 billion in traded goods during the review period—an increase from USD 159.1 billion previously.
Since 2009, export restrictions have impacted approximately USD 786 billion or 3.2% of world exports. However, there has been a decrease in export restrictions on food, feed, and fertilizers since February 2022: "An important silver lining here is that our tracking... shows that these have decreased significantly," Okonjo-Iweala said.
Trade remedy initiations averaged at 28.2 per month during this period, marking an end to a slowdown since 2021 and rising from a previous average of 16.7 per month.
Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that while trade has shown resilience amid recent shocks, it remains vulnerable: "The global trading environment appears increasingly fragile... Yet the fact is that trade remains an important part of the solution to the challenges of our time."
She stressed the need for reforming the rules-based trading system: "That is why we need to shore up... and keep delivering for people everywhere."
The report highlighted several economies implementing trade measures citing national security concerns with limited impact on global trade at around USD 79.6 billion or just 0.2%.
Additionally, governments introduced new support measures focusing on climate change and sustainability efforts.
Lastly, WTO monitoring indicates increasing evidence of trade fragmentation due to geopolitical tensions but notes no significant shift towards regionalization globally yet.