Participation of developing economies in world trade

Developing economies recorded a decline in the value of merchandise trade for the second year in a row, with both exports and imports decreasing by 6 per cent in 2016. A surplus in global supply and a decline in prices for oil products continued to have an impact on the export of fuel products, an important sector for many developing economies. However, the decline recorded for merchandise trade was less severe than the -14 per cent recorded in 2015 for exports and -13 per cent recorded for imports. Merchandise exports from least-developed countries (LDCs) decreased by 6 per cent in 2016, resulting in a slight decline in their share of world merchandise exports, which now stands at 0.94 per cent.