Geneva: World trade grew by a modest 0.7 percent during January-March quarter of this year, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has said.
The volume of world merchandise trade "increased modestly" in the first quarter of 2015, with both exports and imports registering slower growth than over the previous six months, the WTO said in a statement.
According to preliminary estimates, "world trade as measured by the average of exports and imports, grew 0.7 percent in the first three months of 2015, based on seasonally adjusted data," it said.
It said world exports increased by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, down from the 2.1 percent growth registered in the previous quarter.
Similarly, imports grew by 0.9 percent in the same period, down 1.5 percent from the previous quarter.
"Exports from developing and emerging economies rose 1.5 percent in the first quarter, with all regions except Asia registering growth of 3 percent or greater," it added.
In contrast, exports from developed countries fell by 0.5 percent in the same period, with US exports decelerating by 4.5 percent.
Further, it said developing and emerging economies increased their imports by 0.6 percent in the first quarter, with South and Central America and the Caribbean registering strong import growth at 6.8 percent.
"Developed economies increased their imports by 1.3 percent, led by stronger import growth in Europe and North America," it added.
Growth in imports in the developed countries particularly in these two regions is a good news for India at a time when the country's exports continue to be in the negative zone.
Europe and North America are the major export destinations for Indian goods. It accounts for about 30 percent of India's total exports.
Contracting for the sixth month in a row, India's exports dipped by 20.19 percent in May to USD 22.34 billion mainly due to global slowdown and dip in crude oil prices.
According to a WTO forecast, global trade is set to expand by 3.3 percent this year and by 4 percent in 2016, less than previous forecast due to sluggish growth in the global GDP.
