preview

International Trade Has Dramatically Increased Globalization Of The World Economy

Better Essays

International trade has significantly increased with the globalisation of the world economy. The rapid growth in the world economy and the modernisation of the economy has led significant cross border exchange of goods, services and capital. Between 2000 and 2014, the export of goods and services exports grew by an annual average of 7.09% while imports of goods and services grew by an annual average of 7.21%. This growth is higher than the average GDP growth over the same time which averaged 3.99% annually. In Kenya, exports and imports grew by an annual average of 4.49% and 8.26% respectively between 2000 and 2014. This compares unfavourably with the annual average GDP growth rate of 4.39% over the same time . A significant proportion of international trade comprises of trade between affiliates of multinational enterprises (MNE). For instance in the United States of America (USA) intra-firm cross border trade between 2005 and 2014 ranged between 39.8% to 42.3% of the total value of cross border trade in goods with a low of 39.8% being recorded in 2008 and a high of 42.3% being recorded in 2014. The value of intra-firm trade for USA import from Africa constituted 31.9% of the total value of imports from Africa by the USA in 2014 while intra-firm export by the USA to Africa accounted for 15.6% of the total exports from the USA to Africa in 2014 . Data on intra-firm trade from African countries to other regions of the world is rare. It can be inferred that the proportion of

Get Access