Overview
- WEF’s pre‑Davos report says globalization is shifting into a functional “multi‑nodal trade patchwork” rather than collapsing.
- The framework centers on four trade nodes — the United States, China, Plurilateralists, and BRICS+ excluding China — each with distinct priorities and rule sets.
- Global goods trade is projected to expand by roughly 2.5% annually even as flows are rerouted by geopolitics, industrial policy, and strategic partnerships.
- WTO data show 2023 trade growth slowed to 0.8% with record policy uncertainty, while governments imposed over 3,000 trade‑restrictive measures between 2019 and 2024.
- UNCTAD reports nearly 40% of FDI concentrated within regional blocs and weaker cross‑bloc flows since 2020, as the IMF warns long‑run fragmentation costs could reach about 7% of global GDP.