In the first quarter of this year, world traffic in has experienced strong growth in view of the increases in tariffs planned by US President Donald Trump being increased by +3.6% quarter-on-quarter and +5.3% year-on-year. This was announced by the World Trade Organization, specifying that The increase was driven by the surge in North American imports in anticipation of higher tariffs high in the United States announced on April 2 with a which allowed importers to anticipate purchases for avoid paying higher rates later ( of 3 April 2025).

The growth in the volume of trade that took place in the first quarter of 2025 was higher than projected published in the report "Global Trade Outlook and Statistics" of the WTO of 16 April, and for the baseline forecast of +2.7% for 2025 which assumed the maintenance of the policies in force at the beginning of the year and for the adjusted forecast of -0.2%, assuming the policies in force on 16 April. The WTO has specified that since then a series of trade agreements and measures have slightly modified the adjusted forecast, but halfway through June the growth in freight traffic for the whole year was expected still substantially unchanged at +0.1%. Meanwhile the dollar value of world trade in goods, measured on the non-seasonally adjusted export base, in the first quarter increased by +4% year-on-year, reflecting a strong growth in volume and a decline in prices. The WTO has specified that in the first quarter the value of trades was decreased compared to the previous quarter due to normal seasonally adjusted, but seasonally adjusted data continued to grow.

In the first quarter, there were significant differences between regions in the growth of the volume of trade in goods, especially with regard to imports. North America has recorded quarter-on-quarter growth in imports more consistent with all the other regions, with +13.4%, followed by Africa with +5.1%, South and Central America and the Caribbean with +3.6%, the Middle East +3.0%, Europe +1.3% and from Asia with +1.1%. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including some Associated and former Member States, has been the only region to record a drop of -0.5% in the first quarter.

As far as exports are concerned, the Middle East has recorded the most significant quarter-on-quarter growth, with +6.3%, followed by Asia with +5.6%, South America with the +3.2%, from Africa with +2.5%, from Europe with +1.9% and from the North America with +1.8%. The CIS has recorded a decline in exports by -1.0%.

With regard to the different types of goods, in the first quarter, the most marked year-on-year growth in terms of dollar value has been recorded in the office and telecommunications equipment (+16%), followed by chemicals (+12%) and clothing (+7%). Between categories, only automotive products (-4%), fuels and mining products (-4%, of which: fuels, -7%, and iron and steel, -3%) suffered a decline in value.