The latest data suggest that the recovery in world trade which appeared to take hold at the end of last year has continued in 2017. What’s more, the immediate outlook seems reasonably bright, with many indicators pointing to even stronger trade growth. Data published by the Netherlands CPB Bureau on Friday showed that global trade made a reassuring start to the year. While trade volumes were unchanged on the month in January, this followed an upwardly-revised 0.9% monthly increase in December. Trade volumes increased by 2.9% in January in three-month average year-on-year terms, which compares favourably to annual growth of 1.3% in 2016 as a whole. This recent pick-up in trade has occurred in both advanced and emerging economies.
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