Published by
Daily Financial Times
Daily Financial Times
The volume of world merchandise trade fell 0.8% in the third quarter of 2021 after four consecutive quarters of strong expansion, as supply chain disruptions, shortages of production inputs and rising COVID-19 cases weighed on trade growth, said the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a new report. Despite strong headwinds contributing to the decline in the third quarter, trade volume was still up 11.9% for the year-to-date through September. This is slightly worse than the WTO’s most recent trade forecast of 4 October, which anticipated a 12.7% rise over the same period. The forecast of a 10.8%…