World Trade
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It is no surprise that the world economy has become increasingly integrated
since World War II, but the volumes involved can be astonishing.
- The volume of world merchandise trade is now about 16 times what is
was in 1950 -- while the world's total output is only five-and-one-half
times as big.
- The ratio of world exports to gross domestic product has climbed from
7 percent to 15 percent.
- As a percentage of GDP, Germany exports the most merchandise among
major industrialized nations -- the U.S. the least.
- The World Trade Organization estimates that commercial-service trade
-- consisting not of items, but services such as construction projects
-- was worth $1.2 trillion in 1996, around one-quarter the trade in goods
Source: "Trade Winds," The Economist, November 8, 1997.
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