The Financial Secrecy Index is a ranking of jurisdictions most complicit in helping individuals to hide their finances from the rule of law. Financial secrecy facilitates tax abuse, enables money laundering and undermines the human rights of all. The index identifies the world’s biggest suppliers of financial secrecy and spotlights the laws that governments can change to reduce their contribution to financial secrecy. The Financial Secrecy Index thoroughly evaluates each juri

By John W Miller, Chief Economic Analyst, Trade Data Monitor; The global economy avoided a meltdown 2020-2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic because governments around the world, led by the U.S., printed trillions of dollars for their own citizens, oiling consumer demand and goosing merchandise trade around the world. That steroid is now wearing off, as consumers have spent most of the money they were given, and because their spending fueled inflation, making it harder to buy a

Supplies of goods are coming up short in the pandemic, and prices have jumped. Some economists warn that the changes could linger. For the past three decades, companies and consumers benefited from cross-border connections that kept a steady supply of electronics, clothes, toys and other goods so abundant it helped prices stay low. But as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine continue to weigh on trade and business ties, that period of plenty appears to be undergoing a partial

Countries with trade partners that implemented more stringent lockdowns had a sharper drop in imports. Though trade flows have adjusted, more diversified global value chains could help lessen the impact of future shocks. The demand and supply shocks unleashed by the pandemic were expected to lead to a dramatic collapse in trade, but international commerce has proven more resilient than during previous global crises. While goods trade fell sharply in the second quarter of 2020

The promise of TradeTech: Policy approaches to harness trade digitalization Technology has always propelled trade. From the invention of the steam engine and steamship in the 1700s, the popularization of the standard shipping container in the 1950s, and the rise of the internet in the 1990s, technology has over the centuries profoundly changed the way we trade. Today, emerging technologies and digitalization are changing trade at a speed much faster than before – leading to b

Governments come in all shapes and sizes, but can ultimately be divided into two broad categories: democracies and autocracies. Using the Regimes of the World classification system developed by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg, and Staffan Lindberg and data from V-Dem, it’s estimated that 2.3 billion people—about 29% of the global population—lived in a democracy in 2021. By contrast, 71% of people lived under what can be considered an autocratic regime. I

Overseas money is starting to pull out of Chinese markets after the risk of investing in autocratic countries was starkly highlighted by sharp drops in Russia's currency and securities prices following its invasion of Ukraine. Market data shows foreign investors sold a net 38.4 billion yuan ($6.04 billion) of Chinese stocks and bonds in the January-March period, one of the highest such quarterly figures on record. "Outflows from China on the scale and intensity we are seeing

If you wanted to capture over 55% of the global population inside a circle with a 4,000km radius, which city would you place at its epicenter? In 2013, a post appeared on Reddit marking a circular area of the globe with “more people living inside this circle than outside of it.” The circle had a radius of 4,000 km (just under 2,500 miles) and was named the Valeriepieris circle after author Ken Myers’ username. Acknowledging that the Valeriepieris circle is not actually a circ

Starting the week with a smile - What really makes people happy? While countless academic researchers have tried to get to the bottom of this, the truth is, it’s a complicated question to answer. Happiness levels depend on a number of factors, including one’s financial security, perceptions of social support, feelings of personal freedom, and much more. This map pulls data from the World Happiness Report to uncover the average happiness scores of 146 countries. It shows avera

World Economic Forum: Resolving the global supply chain crisis requires collaboration across the trade community. The pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in the global supply chain. Developing economies have been hardest hit by this disruption. Public-private efforts can help deliver trade facilitation reforms. After two years of a global pandemic, international trade is bruised and battered. The carefully tuned machinery we call the supply chain has become erratic, impactin

Home to half of world trade, the APEC region posted double-digit growth both in trade volume and value during the period of January to September 2021, according to an update to an APEC Policy Support Unit report. The volume of APEC’s merchandise exports and imports increased by 14 percent and 16 percent respectively compared to the same period last year, when these were in the negative zone. The value of merchandise trade, meanwhile, rose to 28.2 percent for exports and 27.3

New UNCTAD estimates show that infrastructure finance is up due to recovery stimulus packages, but greenfield investment activity remains weak across industrial sectors. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows showed a strong rebound in 2021, up 77% to an estimated $1.65 trillion, from $929 billion in 2020, surpassing their pre-COVID-19 level, according to UNCTAD’s Investment Trends Monitor published on 19 January. “Recovery of investment flows to developing countries is

For two decades, China’s manufacturing and export sector has seemed to only be going one direction: up. The latest notch: A record trade surplus of $676.4 billion in 2021, up from $524 billion in 2020. Overall for the year, Chinese exports rose 29.9% to $3.4 trillion, the highest total value of goods ever shipped out by a single country, and imports increased 30.1% to $2.7 trillion. For the first time ever, total trade exceeded $6 trillion, according to Trade Data Monitor, th

Just four countries—the U.S., China, Japan, and Germany—make up over half of the world’s economic output by gross domestic product (GDP) in nominal terms. In fact, the GDP of the U.S. alone is greater than the combined GDP of 170 countries. How do the different economies of the world compare? In this visualization we look at GDP by country in 2021, using data and estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). An Overview of GDP GDP serves as a broad indicator for a cou

FDI screening measures are still on the rise in 2021, with several countries extending or making permanent their Covid-19-related policies. Investment Monitor’s FDI regulations database summarises the key measures introduced by the world’s top FDI destinations. Against the backdrop of growing trade protectionism, foreign direct investment (FDI) regulation has become increasingly prevalent. Restrictions have been on the rise since the 2008 global financial crisis, which trigge

Global trade hoisted itself back on track in 2021 after a devastating 2020, and will stabilize itself in 2022, according to the World Trade Organization, and an analysis by Trade Data Monitor, the world’s premier source of trade statistics. Fears about supply chains crumbling and consumers failing to get goods shipped to them were unfounded. The $8.6 trillion global logistics industry, it turns out, is robust enough to get goods from any producer to almost any buyer or consum

Hopes are high for a robust rebound in foreign direct investment flows after a volatile two years, with Investment Monitor predicting 6% growth in greenfield FDI in 2022 as many key sectors head towards recovery. How have leading sectors been impacted by the pandemic, and more importantly, what are their future prospects? The editors of our sister publications outline their expectations below. Apparel The pandemic has brought every supply chain, including apparel, under the s

UNCTAD nowcasts show that trade in services has not yet reached its pre-pandemic level, while merchandise trade is projected to have surpassed it by 15%. UNCTAD’s Handbook of Statistics for 2021 published on 9 December nowcasts a strong increase of 22.4% in the value of global merchandise trade this year compared with 2020. The strong growth will push the value of world trade in goods about 15% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Trade in services, however, will sti

New estimates show that world trade continues its remarkably strong but uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Key findings include: - World trade in goods set a new record of $5.6 trillion in the third quarter of 2021. - Overall, trade in goods and services is projected to reach $28 trillion for the year, a 23% increase compared with 2020 and 11% above pre-COVID-19 levels. - Trade in services shows increasing momentum but remains below pre-pandemic levels. Global trade

Get excited: ‘The Roaring 20s’ report predicts a $1 trillion digital economy in the region by 2030. GUESS how many people began using the internet in South-east Asia this year? 10 million? Way too low. Try again. 20 million? Double that figure and you’ll be spot on. Forty million new users joined the 440 million in the region who are already online, 80% of whom are digital consumers, spending their dollars, pesos and ringgit on fashion, food, transportation, and gaming. No re