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Where does trade occur?

Trade between developed and emerging economies makes up the bulk of world trade and has grown significantly in recent years. The emerging economies include the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, China and India. The table below shows the leading exporters in world merchandise trade (excluding trade within the EU) in 2010. The significance of trade among the leading developed and emerging economies should be clear, with over 65% of world trade taking place between the top ten exporters on the list (N.B. the figures include the EU as a single bloc).

Look carefully also at the growth rates in the data (the last column). Pick out a number of developed countries and developing countries and compare the growth rates of their exports. This should give a clear indication of increasing globalisation.

Rank Exporters Value Share Annual % change
1 Extra-EU (27) exports 1787 15.0 17
2 China 1578 13.3 31
3 United States 1278 10.8 21
4 Japan 770 6.5 33
5 Korea, Republic of 466 3.9 28
6 Hong Kong, China 401 3.4 22
7 Russian Federation 400 3.4 32
8 Canada 387 3.3 22
9 Singapore 352 3.0 30
10 Mexico 298 2.5 30
11 Taipei, Chinese 275 2.3 35
12 Saudi Arabia 254 2.1 32
13 United Arab Emirates 235 2.0 27
14 India 216 1.8 31
15 Australia 212 1.8 38
16 Brazil 202 1.7 32
17 Malaysia 199 1.7 26
18 Switzerland 195 1.6 13
19 Thailand 195 1.6 28
20 Indonesia 158 1.3 32
21 Norway 132 1.1 9
22 Turkey 114 1.0 12
23 Iran, Islamic Republic of 101 0.8 28
24 South Africa 82 0.7 33
25 Nigeria 79 0.7 49
27 VietNam 72 0.6 26
27 Chile 70 0.6 30
28 Argentina 69 0.6 23
29 Kuwait 66 0.6 27
30 Bolivarian Rep. of Venezuela 66 0.6 14