Download Trade of Developed and Less Developed Noncommunist Countries

Trade of Developed and Less Developed Noncommunist Countries in Selected Years
(billions of dollars)
Exports
to
DCs
LDCs
Total
Exports
to
DCs
LDCs
Total
Exports
to
DCs
LDCs
Total
Exports
to
DCs
LDCs
Total
SOURCE :
(a) 1953
Exports from
$29
DCs
(42%)
16
45
(23)
(65)
$18
LDCs
(26%)
$47
Total
(68%)
6
24
(9)
(35)
22
69
(32)
(100)
$374
92
466
Total
(80%)
(20)
(100)
(b) 1973
Exports from
$294
69
363
DCs
(63%)
(15)
(78)
$ 80
23
103
LDCs
(17%)
(5)
(22)
(c) 1989
Exports from
DCs
$ 1638 (60%)
423
(16)
2061
(76)
$436
229
665
LDCs
(16%)
(8)
(24)
$2074
652
2726
Total
(76%)
(24)
(100)
(c) 2005
Exports from
$ 4557
1644
6201
DCs
(45%)
(16)
(61)
LDCs
$2041 (20%)
1917 (19)
3958 (39)
GATT, WTO, International Trade Statistics.
Total
$6598 (65%)
3561 (35)
10159 (100)
International trade has grown more rapidly than world production in
nearly every year since the Second World War.
Average annual % rate of growth, 2003-2005, in:
merchandise trade:
world GDP:
SOURCE :
4.5%
2.5%
WTO, International Trade Statistics
The largest part of world trade is that among the developed countries
themselves, rather than between these countries and the less developed.
We would expect differences in comparative costs and tastes to be much more marked between
the two groups of countries than between individual developed countries. The fraction of world
trade accounted for by trade between the less developed countries themselves is minor.
Trade among the DCs has increased much faster than trade in general
— over the period as a whole — and thus has accounted for an
increasing proportion of total trade.
International Trade in Manufactures
(a) The Pattern of Trade in Manufactures,
1985 (billions of dollars)
(b) The Pattern of Trade in
Manufactures, 1992 (billions of
dollars)
Exports from
Exports from
Exports to
DCs
$696
(73%)
197
(78)
DCs
LDCs
LDCs
Exports to
$97
(33%)
43
(37)
DCs
LDCs
DCs
$1519
(79%)
474
(76)
LDCs
$330
(54%)
213
(79)
(c) Relative to Total Trade
Year
1928
1953
1973
1992
SOURCES :
Value
($bil.)
12
32
350
2653
% of
Total
Trade
39
45
61
73
U.N., Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, and GATT, International Trade.
The DCs, on balance, export manufactures to the LDCs in exchange for primary
products. The DCs also exchange manufactures among themselves.
Trade among the DCs features a large and growing volume of intra-industry
trade, both absolutely and relative to inter-industry trade.
LDC exports of manufactures are the fast-growing part of world trade, although
their absolute share is still modest.
International Trade of the U.S. in 2006 (billions of dollars)
Partner
DCs
Canada
EU
Japan
LDCs
Mexico
China
TOTAL
(a) Direction
Exports Imports
540
866
231
306
210
330
58
149
513
995
139
201
55
288
1023
1861
s)
(b) Composition (1992)
Commodity Group
Ex.-Im.
Food
9
Petroleum
-56
Other raw materials
2.1
Capital goods
37
Automotive
-51
Other consumer goods
-63
SOURCE: Survey of Current Business.