Imports valued at USD 2,640 billion, representing 11.1 percent of global imports, were impacted mainly by tariffs and other trade measures introduced between mid-October 2024 and mid-October 2025, according to the latest annual report from the World Trade Organization (WTO). This figure is more than four times higher than the USD 611 billion recorded in the previous period. When similar measures on exports are included, the total value of trade affected reached approximately USD 2,966 billion, over three times last year’s USD 888 billion.
At the same time, WTO members and observers implemented a significant number of new trade-facilitating measures on goods—331 in total—covering an estimated USD 2,090 billion in trade. This is about one and a half times greater than the USD 1,441 billion reported previously.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala commented: "The sharp jump in the trade coverage of tariffs reflects the increased protectionism we have seen since the start of the year. Nearly a fifth (19.7 per cent) of world imports are now affected by tariffs and other such measures introduced since 2009 - compared to 12.6 per cent only a year ago," she said. "At the same time, we see members acting to facilitate trade and engaging in dialogue rather than retaliation. This speaks to the value they continue to see in maintaining smooth cross-border trade flows. WTO members should use the current trade disruptions to advance long-overdue reforms of the WTO. Members have an opportunity to tackle some of the underlying concerns linked to recent unilateral measures, while repositioning the WTO to better help them seize exciting new trade opportunities."
According to WTO economists, global merchandise trade is projected to grow by 2.4 percent in 2025 and by 0.5 percent in 2026. The first half of 2025 saw stronger-than-expected growth due to factors such as early import purchases, high demand for artificial intelligence-related products, and continued growth among most WTO members—especially developing economies.
During this review period, there was an average of 32.3 new trade remedy investigations each month—slightly below last year’s peak—but only about 11.4 terminations per month were recorded, one of the lowest levels since 2012. Many such actions remain active; anti-dumping measures made up nearly half (46.5 percent) of all recorded goods-related trade measures.
In services, WTO members enacted 124 new measures during this period—a level consistent with recent years—with most aiming at facilitating trade or improving regulations across various sectors. Half affected commercial presence ("mode 3"), about a quarter involved movement of professionals ("mode 4"), and around one fifth targeted internet-based services.
There was also an increase in general economic support measures introduced by WTO members during this period; many focused on sectors like environment, energy, and agriculture and suggested a trend toward non-financial interventions with broader strategic aims.
Throughout this time frame, members continued raising concerns within WTO committees regarding policies implemented by others; these committees served as key forums for addressing issues that could cause friction among trading partners.
The "Overview of Developments in the International Trading Environment" reports have been published regularly since 2009 under Paragraph G of Annex 3 to the WTO Agreement's Trade Policy Review Mechanism mandate. These reports are issued under responsibility of the Director-General with an aim to assist analysis within the Trade Policy Review Body concerning international developments affecting multilateral trading systems.