Xinhua, Geneva :
World trade growth in 2014 is now predicted at 3.1 percent, down from the 4.7 percent forecast made in April, according to latest statistics released by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Tuesday.
It added that estimated trade growth for 2015 was cut to 4 percent from the previously-expected 5.3 percent.
The weaker-than-expected GDP growth and muted import demand in the first half of 2014, particularly in natural resource exporting regions such as South and Central America, were reasons behind the lower forecasts, said WTO economists.
In its latest prediction, WTO expected the export of developed economies to grow by 2.5 percent in 2014, and developing economies by 4.0 percent.
On the import side, developed economies are estimated to grow 3. 4 percent this year, while developing economies will increase 2.6 percent.
“International institutions have significantly revised their GDP forecasts after disappointing economic growth in the first half of the year,” said Roberto Azevedo, WTO’s Director-General, in a statement.
He noted that “uneven growth and continuing geopolitical tensions will remain a risk for both trade and output in the second half of the year.”
Economic growth, though having strengthened somewhat in the past months, has remained unsteady.
The contraction of GDP in the first quarter in the United States and in the second quarter in Germany dampened the global import demand, said WTO.
