Introduction

Trade and output growth resumed in the second half of 2009 following record declines earlier in the year. The recovery through the first quarter of 2010 was insufficient to attain pre-crisis levels. The WTO has projected a further recovery in 2010 from the depressed levels of 2009, which should reverse some but not all of the impact of the trade collapse. One positive development in 2009 was the absence of any major increase in trade barriers imposed by WTO members in response to the crisis, despite high unemployment in many countries. The WTO system of trade regulation played a significant role in helping to prevent another descent into protectionism that so exacerbated economic conditions in the 1930s.