Global trade prospects improve

The outlook for world trade is improving according to the DHL Global Trade Barometer, which increased to 66 points in March from 64 points in January.

The barometer points to an increase in trade activity for each of the seven constituent countries. In particular, it found an increasingly positive outlook for Korean and US trade.

In contrast, the prospects for German trade eased after the strong peak seen in 2017. India continues to show the highest index value of all seven countries for the overall trade predictions, while the UK, after a modest decline since January, scores the same level as China at the lower end of the country ranking.

The global air trade outlook drops slightly by one point compared to January, but remains positive at 70. German and South Korean air trade growth is expected to slow down, but growth in China and the US is expected to accelerate.

The outlook for global ocean trade improved to 63 points in March from 60 points in January. This growth is also driven by the US and China, together with a strong increase in South Korea, offsetting a slightly reduced growth outlook for UK and German ocean trade.

The barometer, which was launched in January, has been developed in cooperation between DHL and Accenture. The next update is due in June.