Last year, the global trade market saw a decline of 3%, equivalent to approximately $1 trillion, compared to the record high of $32 trillion in 2022.
Despite this decrease, the services sector showed resilience with an 8% increase of $500 billion from the previous year, while trade in goods experienced a 5% decline of $1.3 trillion compared to 2022.
The fourth quarter of 2023 marked a shift from previous quarters, with both merchandise and services trade stabilizing. Developing countries, particularly those in Africa, East Asia, and South Asia, experienced a return to growth.
While many major economies saw a decline in merchandise trade last year, there were some exceptions, according to UNCTAD. Russia experienced significant volatility in trade statistics, and towards the end of 2023, China saw a 5% growth in imports and India saw a 5% growth in exports, while Russia and the European Union saw declines.
In 2023, trade performance decreased by approximately 4% in developing countries and 6% in developed economies. South-South trade, or trade between developing economies, saw a steeper decline of 7%. However, these trends reversed in the last quarter of 2023, with developing countries and South-South trade resuming growth while trade in developed countries remained stable.
Geopolitical tensions continued to impact bilateral trade, as evidenced by Russia reducing its trade dependence on the European Union and increasing its reliance on China. Trade interdependence between China and the United States also decreased in 2023.
Regionally, trade between African economies bucked the global trend by increasing by 6% last year, while intraregional trade in East Asia and Latin America lagged behind the global average.
The amount of electronic waste, or e-waste, being produced is at least 62 million tonnes, and it is increasing five times faster than the amount being recycled. This is according to the UN Global E-waste Monitor report published on Thursday.
The report reveals that this amount of e-waste would fill over 1.5 million 40-tonne trucks, which is enough to form a line of lorries around the Equator. Only 25% of e-waste in 2022 was officially recorded to have been recycled, meaning that $62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources are unaccounted for, posing pollution risks to communities worldwide.
E-waste, which includes any discarded product with a plug or battery, is a health and environmental hazard due to its toxic additives and hazardous substances such as mercury, which can cause damage to the human brain and nervous system.
The latest TB surveillance and monitoring report from WHO/Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) revealed that there were nearly 7,000 excess deaths from tuberculosis (TB) in the UN World Health Organization’s (WHO) European region during the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on pre-2020 estimates, these deaths would not have occurred if TB diagnosis and treatment efforts had not been disrupted. Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, called this a “heartbreaking, entirely preventable situation,” and urged national authorities to strengthen TB testing programs and apply the latest WHO guidelines.
ECDC Director Dr. Andrea Ammon emphasized the need for timely strengthening of prevention, testing, and treatment to meet TB elimination targets in the aftermath of COVID-19, stating that “any delays are translated into further suffering and death.”