Digital technologies are changing the way we live, work, and trade. As WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala often says, the future of trade is digital, and it must be inclusive.

Trade has become well-established and recognised among practitioners and policymakers as an effective way to support and advance international development and poverty reduction. Multilateral institutions, including multilateral development banks (MDBs), have embraced this perspective, and most leading MDBs today put significant priority on the nexus between trade and development.

The WTO’s Global Trade Outlook 2025 reveals a projected decline in global merchandise trade, rising protectionism, US-China decoupling, and a surprising resilience in services trade amid growing global uncertainty.