Overview of Developments in the International Trading Environment - Annual Report by the Director-General (2014)

Azevêdo’s health-check on global trade: Growth recovering but restrictions on the rise: Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, in presenting his first global trade-monitoring report to WTO members on 17 February 2014, said that trade growth projections for this year are “much improved, hovering somewhere between 4.0% and 4.5%.” However, he said “407 new restrictive measures were reported during the review period,” affecting 1.3 % of world merchandise imports—valued at $240 billion.