Maritime transport carries 95 percent of global merchandise trade by volume. Public cloud spending is forecast to reach about 750 billion dollars and cybersecurity spending totals 22.5 billion dollars. Remittance flows approach 3.9 trillion dollars while foreign direct investment inflows fall 17 percent.
Key Takeaways
- 3.1% share of global GDP devoted to trade (goods) in 2022 meaning goods trade stood at about 3.1% of world GDP
- 95% of global trade by volume is carried by sea meaning most merchandise trade volume moves via maritime transport
- 3.5% average annual growth in world merchandise trade volumes from 2021 to 2022 meaning global trade growth accelerated after the pandemic
- US$1.8 trillion global merchandise trade value in 2022 meaning world merchandise trade totaled about US$1.8T
- 1.6 million shipping containers were processed daily at major hubs in 2022 meaning peak global port throughput reached over a million containers/day
- US$4.6 trillion global services trade value in 2022 meaning services trade totaled about US$4.6T
- 17% decline in global FDI inflows in 2022 vs 2021 meaning FDI inflows fell by about 17% year over year
- US$3.9 trillion remittance outflows and inflows (balance) in 2023 meaning remittance-related flows reached near US$3.9T globally
- US$1.3 trillion export value generated by travel and tourism in 2023 meaning travel/tourism exports produced about US$1.3T
- 2.05 billion people used social media in 2023 meaning about 2.05B individuals were social media users worldwide
- 50% of global web traffic is from mobile devices meaning mobile accounted for about half of web traffic
- 46% of e-commerce buyers prefer cross-border marketplaces meaning nearly half of surveyed buyers show preference for cross-border marketplace shopping
- US$750 billion expected worldwide public cloud end-user spending in 2024 meaning Gartner forecasts about US$750B for 2024
- US$22.5 billion total spending on cybersecurity in 2024 meaning global cybersecurity spending reached about US$22.5B
- 74% of global GDP is in economies with formal regional trade agreements in 2022 meaning that share of world GDP is covered by RTAs
In 2022, goods trade was about 3.1% of global GDP and surged 3.5% annually.
Related reading
01 · Category
Trade Flows5 stats
01
3.1% share of global GDP devoted to trade (goods) in 2022 meaning goods trade stood at about 3.1% of world GDPhttps://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TW&queryid=184
02
95% of global trade by volume is carried by sea meaning most merchandise trade volume moves via maritime transporthttps://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/rmt2018_en.pdf
03
3.5% average annual growth in world merchandise trade volumes from 2021 to 2022 meaning global trade growth accelerated after the pandemichttps://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres24_e/pr967_e.htm
04
18.8% share of world export value by the United States in 2022 meaning the US was one of the largest sources of global exportshttps://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/its2019_e/its2019_e.pdf
05
10.6% of world merchandise trade in 2022 involved free trade zones meaning a significant fraction of trade is linked to special customs areashttps://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/UNCTAD_DTL2022.pdf
Interpretation
Trade Flows Interpretation
From a trade flows perspective, goods trade remains a relatively small share of the global economy at about 3.1% of world GDP but it is highly concentrated in maritime transport with 95% of trade by volume moving by sea, while trade volumes rebounded with a 3.5% average annual growth from 2021 to 2022.
02 · Category
Industry Patterns9 stats
01
US$1.8 trillion global merchandise trade value in 2022 meaning world merchandise trade totaled about US$1.8Thttps://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/wto_world_trade_report24_e.pdf
02
1.6 million shipping containers were processed daily at major hubs in 2022 meaning peak global port throughput reached over a million containers/dayhttps://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/rmt2022_en.pdf
03
US$4.6 trillion global services trade value in 2022 meaning services trade totaled about US$4.6Thttps://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/services_trade.htm
04
7% annual growth rate of global trade in services in 2022 meaning services trade rose about 7%https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/wts2023_e/wts2023_e.pdf
05
US$1.8 trillion cross-border M&A value in 2022 meaning international deal value reached about US$1.8Thttps://www.unctad.org/system/files/official-document/wir2023_en.pdf
06
US$14.8 billion global box office revenue from international co-productions in 2023 meaning cross-border film/TV co-production revenue totaled about US$14.8Bhttps://www.screendigest.com/research/industry-report-international-co-productions-2024
07
US$0.3 trillion global renewable energy investments in 2023 meaning renewable energy investment crossed about US$0.3Thttps://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2024/renewables-investment
08
US$2.4 trillion global investment in energy in 2023 meaning total energy investment reached about US$2.4Thttps://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2024
09
15% share of global greenhouse gas emissions comes from international transport meaning transport emissions contribute significantlyhttps://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/
Interpretation
Industry Patterns Interpretation
The Industry Patterns picture of globalization shows trade-led interconnectedness at scale, with 2022 bringing US$1.8 trillion in global merchandise trade alongside US$4.6 trillion in global services trade growing about 7% and supported by high logistics throughput like 1.6 million shipping containers processed daily in 2022.
03 · Category
Capital Movements1 stats
01
17% decline in global FDI inflows in 2022 vs 2021 meaning FDI inflows fell by about 17% year over yearhttps://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/wir2023_en.pdf
Interpretation
Capital Movements Interpretation
In capital movements, global FDI inflows dropped about 17% in 2022 compared with 2021, signaling a clear year over year contraction in cross border investment.
04 · Category
People & Diaspora2 stats
01
US$3.9 trillion remittance outflows and inflows (balance) in 2023 meaning remittance-related flows reached near US$3.9T globallyhttps://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/migrationremittancesdiasporaissues/brief/remittances
02
US$1.3 trillion export value generated by travel and tourism in 2023 meaning travel/tourism exports produced about US$1.3Thttps://www.wttc.org/research/economic-impact-research/
Interpretation
People & Diaspora Interpretation
In the People and Diaspora landscape, 2023 saw nearly US$3.9 trillion in global remittance flows alongside US$1.3 trillion in travel and tourism exports, showing how migration ties and mobility are together fueling cross-border people-driven exchange.
More related reading
05 · Category
Information Flows2 stats
01
2.05 billion people used social media in 2023 meaning about 2.05B individuals were social media users worldwidehttps://datareportal.com/social-media-users
02
50% of global web traffic is from mobile devices meaning mobile accounted for about half of web traffichttps://www.statista.com/statistics/271353/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices-worldwide/
Interpretation
Information Flows Interpretation
In the Information Flows dimension of globalization, social media reached about 2.05 billion users in 2023 while mobile devices generated roughly 50% of all global web traffic, showing that communication and content are increasingly driven by mobile-first platforms.
06 · Category
Digital Trade1 stats
01
46% of e-commerce buyers prefer cross-border marketplaces meaning nearly half of surveyed buyers show preference for cross-border marketplace shoppinghttps://www.unctad.org/system/files/official-document/der2021_en.pdf
Interpretation
Digital Trade Interpretation
In digital trade, the fact that 46% of e-commerce buyers prefer cross-border marketplaces shows that nearly half of online shoppers want global access, making cross-border platforms a central driver of buyer behavior.
07 · Category
Supply Chains2 stats
01
US$750 billion expected worldwide public cloud end-user spending in 2024 meaning Gartner forecasts about US$750B for 2024https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-07-16-gartner-says-worldwide-public-cloud-end-user-spending-to-grow-20-percent-in-2024
02
US$22.5 billion total spending on cybersecurity in 2024 meaning global cybersecurity spending reached about US$22.5Bhttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-04-09-gartner-forecast-us-280-billion-spend-on-security-and-risk-management-technologies-in-2024
Interpretation
Supply Chains Interpretation
For supply chains, Gartner’s forecast of US$750 billion in worldwide public cloud end user spending in 2024 alongside about US$22.5 billion in global cybersecurity spending shows that as cloud adoption accelerates, protection and risk management are scaling just as fast to keep operations secure.
08 · Category
Regionalization6 stats
01
74% of global GDP is in economies with formal regional trade agreements in 2022 meaning that share of world GDP is covered by RTAshttps://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/wtr_2023_e/wtr23_4.pdf
02
355 regional trade agreements were notified to the WTO as of 31 December 2023 meaning total RTAs on record were 355https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/region_e/statistics_e.htm
03
51% share of Asia’s total trade that is intra-Asian in 2021 meaning more than half of Asia’s trade is within the regionhttps://www.adb.org/publications/asian-economic-integration-report-2023
04
36% of Africa’s total trade is intra-African in 2021 meaning more than a third of African trade is within Africahttps://www.afdb.org/en/documents/africa-integration-index-2023
05
45% of global trade value is in intermediate goods in 2021 meaning a large share of trade is used as inputs in production chainshttps://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/wtr_2023_e/wtr23_2.pdf
06
31% of trade value is in intra-firm trade meaning intra-firm cross-border transactions represent about a third of trade valuehttps://www.oecd.org/trade/international-trade-in-goods-and-services.htm
Interpretation
Regionalization Interpretation
Regionalization is clearly strengthening as 74% of global GDP sits within economies covered by formal regional trade agreements and intra-regional trade dominates in both Asia at 51% and Africa at 36%.
report visual · Comparison
Key globalization shares: trade, transport, and investment
Global trade is concentrated in a few channels—sea transport dominates, regional agreements cover most GDP, and investment inflows have recently contracted.
95% of global trade by volume is carried by sea meaning most merchandise trade volume moves via maritime transport95%
74% of global GDP is in economies with formal regional trade agreements in 2022 meaning that share of world GDP is cover
74%
45% of global trade value is in intermediate goods in 2021 meaning a large share of trade is used as inputs in productio
45%
17% decline in global FDI inflows in 2022 vs 2021 meaning FDI inflows fell by about 17% year over year
17%
source-verifiedunctad.org · wto.org2022
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Marcus Engström. (2026, February 13). Globalization Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/globalization-statistics
MLA
Marcus Engström. "Globalization Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/globalization-statistics.
Chicago
Marcus Engström. 2026. "Globalization Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/globalization-statistics.
Sources & references
28 datasets cited across this report
+14 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)