RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/COMTD/W/11
14November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3532)
Committee onTrade andDevelopment
Fourth Session
17November 1995
NOTES ONTHE PARTICIPATION OFDEVELOPING COUNTRIES
INTHE WORLD TRADING SYSTEM
Note bytheSecretariat
I. Introduction
1. Inaccordance withagenda itemD,theCommittee onTrade andDevelopment willreview the
participation ofdeveloping countries, including theleast-developed countries, inthemultilateral trading
system. Thisdocument provides background information forthisreview. Thebroad picture of
international tradeflows inthe1990s offered below mainly focuses ontrends inthetradeofdeveloping
countries, inparticular theleast-developed countries.
II. Total Merchandise Trade: Overview
2. Developments inthe1990s havecontrasted sharply withthose ofthe1980's,when thevalue
ofdeveloping countries 'merchandise trade virtually stagnated andtheirshare inworld trade declined
dramatically (Tables 1and2).1
3. Inthe1990s, totalmerchandise exports ofthedeveloping countries asagroup haveonaverage
increased atafaster ratethanworld exports. Their share ofworld exports in1994 wasanestimated
22.7percent,compared with21.3percentin1990. Export expansion, andthemore liberal import
policies pursued bymany developing countries, haveprompted asurge intotalmerchandise imports
from 20percentin1990 to24percentin1994. Import demand indeveloping countries accounted
forabout 40percentoftheincrease inthetotalvalue ofworld trade in1990-1994.
4. Inthe1980s, Asiawastheonlydeveloping country region which increased imports andexports
more rapidly thanworld trade. Developing Asiahasalsobeenthemostdynamic exporting developing
region inthe1990s, itsshare inworld exports having risen to13.5percentin1994. Intheperiod
1990-94, developing Asia'simports continued toexpand asfastasitsexports andLatin American region
imports havebeenbuoyant, fuelled byderegulation inMexico andother countries, andbythesharp
expansion intrade among theMERCOSUR countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay andUruguay).
5. Theshare inworld trade oftheAfrican andMiddle Eastregions declined further tolessthan
2percentin1994. While developing countries intheMiddle Eastincreased theirimports atanaverage
1Theyear1980 represented ahistoric peaklevel forthedeveloping countries share inworld trade. Oilprice
developments (butalsoother commodity prices) caused asharp risein1979-81, buttheprice collapse thereafter
resulting inastrong decline oftheir share.WT/COMTD/W/11
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annual rateof5percent(i.e.atthesame rateofworld trade) inthefouryears to1994, theirexports
declined by2percentperannum. African imports didnotgrow overtheperiod 1990-94 andexports
declined by4percentperannum.
6. Itcanbeseenfrom Table 3thatin1994, theshare ofintra-Latin American trade accounted
for20percentoftotaltrade. Thisremains below thatindeveloping Asia, which isclose to30per
cent. Developing Asiahasalsobecome animportant trading partner forother developing regions:
itabsorbed 20percentoftotalexports andsupplied nearly 15percentoftotalimports totheMiddle
Eastin1994. ForAfrican countries inparticular, butalsoforLatin American countries, notless
than70percentoftheirexport andimport trade iscarried outwithdeveloped countries.
III. Merchandise Trade byProducts
7. Akeyfeature oftherecent years hasbeentheincreasing share ofdeveloping countries inworld
tradeinmanufactured products (Table 4).Onaregional basis, developing Asiaand-toalesser extent -
Latin America ledthemovement. Bothregions arealready major exporters ofmanufactures (Chart 1).
Manufactures account for80percentofexports ofdeveloping Asia, andalmost 50percentofthe
exports ofLatin America. Theincrease intheshare ofmanufactures inLatin American exports in
the1990s istobelinked primarily totheexport performance ofMexico andtheMERCOSUR countries.
Middle EastandAfrican countries maintained theirshare inworld manufactured exports in1994 at
thesame levelasin1990. Inthese developing regions, theshare ofmanufactured exports compared
withtraditionally exported primary products alsorosedramatically between 1990 and1994. Inboth
cases, butparticularly inAfrica, thisreflects inpartdepressed receipts fromtheexports ofcommodities
(including petroleum). Attheindividual country level, thetenleading exporters ofmanufactures among
developing countries made upanestimated 13.2percentofworld exports ofmanufactures in1994
(Table 5).Their totalshare intheearly1980s waslessthan8percent. These tencountries exported
in1994 over80percentoftotaldeveloping country exports ofmanufactures.
IV. Trade Developments intheLeast-Developed Countries
8. Partner trade datasuggest thatexports oftheleast-developed countries, asagroup, tended
todecline invalue terms inthe1990s, while theirimports stagnated (Table 6).Their exports ofmining
products, which constituted one-half oftotalexports in1990declined markedly between 1990and1994.
These exports wereonthewhole adversely affected byprice developments inworld markets during
the1990s (Table 7).Least-developed country exports oftraditional primary products alsodeclined
overtheperiod while theirexports ofmanufactures expanded inlinewithincreased world demand
forthose products.