Non-tariff measures now exceed tariffs as major trade barriers, increasing export costs and harming developing countries’ global competitiveness.
UNCTAD
UNCTAD warns that rising investment in AI and strategic technologies is concentrating capital in a few sectors and countries, increasing the risk that many developing economies will be left behind.
New UNCTAD dashboard tracks risks across shipping, energy, food and finance as shocks from the Strait of Hormuz spread through the global economy.
A new partnership between UNCTAD and Singapore aims to help ports cut emissions, boost resilience, and ensure developing countries are included in the transition to sustainable global shipping.
A where developing countries collaborate, share debt management strategies, and strengthen collective capacity to address rising financial challenges.
Global trade grew strongly in 2025, but geopolitical tensions, rising costs, and uneven gains are slowing growth and increasing risks for developing economies.
What began as disruption in a key energy corridor is now , UN Trade and Development warns in its . Update follows of March 10.
Rising borrowing costs are shrinking fiscal space across developing countries, forcing governments to cut essential spending and delaying development investments.
are driving up energy, transport, and fertilizer costs, threatening food prices and economic stability, particularly in developing countries.
A warns that growing policy uncertainty and fragmentation in the global trading system threaten developing countries’ ability to benefit from trade.
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released a examining the implications of recent disruptions to maritime traffic in the Strait, one of the world’s most critical trade corridors.
are unevenly altering competitiveness, , limiting value chain upgrading, and reshaping global trade flows.
±«±·°ä°Õ´¡¶Ù’s warns that service growth in least developed countries is limited by low productivity, weak digital capacity, and insufficient job creation, restricting broad-based prosperity.
Global foreign direct investment rose 14% in 2025, led overwhelmingly by capital-intensive data-centre projects tied to AI growth, though gains were concentrated in developed economies and masked weaker underlying investment activity.
After reaching a record $35 trillion in 2025, global trade is set to keep growing in 2026 at a slower pace as geopolitical tensions, supply chain shifts and digital and green transitions reshape trade flows.