Trade developments in 2012 and early 2013

World trade growth fell to 2.0 per cent in 2012 from 5.2 per cent in 2011, and remained sluggish in the opening months of 2013 as the economic slowdown in Europe suppressed global import demand. The abrupt deceleration of trade in 2012 was mainly attributable to slow growth in developed economies and recurring bouts of uncertainty over the future of the euro. Flagging output and high unemployment in developed countries reduced imports and fed through to a lower pace of export growth in both developed and developing economies. More positive economic developments in the United States in the early months of 2013 were offset by lingering weakness in the European Union, as peripheral euro area economies continued to struggle and even core euro area economies increasingly felt the impact of the downturn in the region.