The slowdown in world trade in goods and services is a fact. This is evidenced by the most recent publications of the barometers for measuring the World Trade Organization (WTO), being that of services the most recent.
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According to the agency, Services Trade Barometer for Novembere fell to 98.3 points, below the reference of 100 points, and far from the June reading, prior measurement, when it reached 105.5 points.
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“The findings are in line with the Goods Trade Barometer released at the end of November, which indicated a slowdown in merchandise trade volume growth in the final months of 2022 and into 2023,” explained the entity.
The WTO recalled that the volume of trade in services exceeded its peakprior to the pandemic, in the third quarter of this year and “It was expected to remain strong in the third quarter, driven by spending on travel, information and communication technology (ICT) services, and financial services.”
However, for business organization Rather, the Services Trade Barometer indicates that year-on-year growth in actual commercial services began to moderate in the third quarter and may slow further in the fourth, as well as in the new year, due to declining prospects for growth in the main economies of the service industry”.
Among the six indices that make up the services barometerfinancial services, with 107.8 points, were the most resistant to the slowdown in the world economy, “staying firmly above trend”, explained the WTO.
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Secondly, indices for air passenger transport (105.2 points) and ICT services (103.2 points) also ended above trend, “although the passenger index has pulled back closer to its benchmark of 100, representing an expansion in trend.”
In contrast to the positive aspects of the indicator, component indices for construction services (92.9 points), as well as container transport (92.8 points) and Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) services (91.1 points) fell deeply into contraction territory, confirming their decline since the previous Barometer measurement.
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