Trade and Development Report 2025

The annual flagship report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the 2025 edition of which is subtitled "The Edge of the Cliff: Trade, Finance and the Reshaping of the Global Economy", focuses on the deep binding of trade and finance. The report points out that the global South already accounts for 44 per cent of international trade and 42 per cent of global output, and the share of foreign direct investment inflows has risen from about 22 per cent in 2007 to more than 58 per cent in 2023; however, more than 90 per cent of global trade depends on trade finance, while finance remains highly concentrated and dollar-centric, and developing countries are marginalized. The May 2026 update of the Trade and Development Outlook 2026 points out that the global risk focus has shifted from "trade policy uncertainty" to "geopolitical risk", with global growth slowing to 2.6 per cent in 2026 and trade in goods slowing from 4.7 per cent in 2025 to 1.5-2.5 per cent, and warning that food security is becoming a financial stability issue.

Original link: https://unctad.org/publication/trade-and-development-report-2025