Global trade has surged over the past 25 years. People are trading with one another more than ever before.

Global trade today is almost 30 percent of the world economy, in real terms. This measure of globalization has doubled since 1990.

However, in recent years the growth of global trade has stalled. In particular, trade in goods (rather than trade in services, like wealth management) has stalled. In fact the world might have hit peak trade.

How did global trade grow?

Making things has become more complex. This helped the surge in global trade over the past 25 years. In the 1970s products tended to be made locally.

A country would import some things it could not make itself. If a country does not have oil, it has to import oil (or use other sorts of energy). Oil and other basic goods aside, countries made their own things.

Over the last 25 years, countries stopped making everything themselves. Countries now import more than basic goods like oil. Think about music. Someone wanting to buy a compact disk album by a foreign artist is really importing music from another country.

Popular

Java airports grounded by low demand, poor planning

Rethinking ocean finance

Trump says Indonesia to face 19 percent tariff under trade deal