GENEVA — The World Trade Organization has launched a new World Trade Outlook Indicator (WTOI) designed to provide “real time” information on trends in global trade. The WTOI was unveiled in Shanghai, China on July 8, ahead of a meeting of G20 trade ministers.
Combining a variety of trade-related indices, the WTOI is designed to give an early signal of the current direction of world trade and where it is likely to go in the near future. In this way the WTOI should signal turning points in world merchandise trade volume. It complements existing tools such as the WTO’s. . .

