WTO Raises Merchandise Trade Growth Forecast to 3.9% as AI Boom Offsets Hit From Middle East – WTOP News
AI-related goods drove 47% of first-half merchandise trade growth as the WTO said supply chains adapted to Middle East disruptions.
- The World Trade Organization increased its 2026 global merchandise trade growth forecast to 3.9%, more than doubling the initial 1.9% prediction as booming AI-related investments offset economic hits from Middle East conflict.
- Demand for AI-enabling goods accounted for 47% of merchandise trade growth in the first half of 2026, with trade in these products rising 67% year-on-year, providing powerful momentum to global commerce.
- Conflict in the Middle East disrupted shipping through the Persian Gulf since the Israeli war against Iran began, causing crude oil exports to drop by nearly a quarter in the first half of the year.
- Global supply chains successfully adapted to energy and fertilizer market disruptions, with the Geneva-based trade body noting this resilience limited LNG shipment declines to about 6% despite regional challenges.
- The trade body expects global GDP to grow 2.6% this year and 2.9% in 2027, while merchandise trade growth of 4.1% is anticipated for next year, up from the 2.9% forecast made earlier this year.
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Reformatorisch Dagblad
welingelichtekringen.nlThe World Trade Organization (WTO) has become much more optimistic about the growth of global trade in goods this year and next. This emerges from the new outlook presented by the WTO on Thursday.
World merchandise trade resists better than expected, in the face of the Middle East war, thanks to the goods linked to the AI. The World Trade Organization (WTO) boosted its forecast of growth by 2026 by two pointsThe robustness of world merchandise trade in the face of the Middle East war was greater than expected, thanks to that of the goods linked to the AI. On Thursday in Geneva, the WTO boosted its forecast of growth by 2026 from 1.9 to 3.…
The World Trade Organization (WTO) increased the forecast for world merchandise trade in 2026 to 3.9 per cent, with an expected increase of 1.9 per cent in March.
The economists of the World Trade Organization (WTO) now expect a growth of 3.9 per cent in the volume of world merchandise trade in 2026, compared with 1.9 per cent anticipated in March. By 2027, they expect a growth of 4.1 per cent, well above the 2.6% predicted in March. As for world GDP, it is expected to increase by 2.6 per cent this year and 2.9 per cent the next. "These figures show the resilience of trade," said WTO Director-General Ngoz…
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