The World Trade Geography: 1967-2011

The remarkable changes in the distribution of wealth and trade flows in recent decades are subject to abundant interpretations as a shift of the world economy gravity center towards Asia. Using CHELEM and BACI databases of CEPII this panorama examines and illustrates major geographical trends of the international trade in a coherent and comprehensive framework. The shifting of the center of global economy to Asia appears then as a natural phenomenon given the size of its population. A detailed analysis places each country on the world trade map. It appears that the globalization of trade flows has not erased the regional polarization; the major part of countries exports and imports mainly within their own geographical area. Despite globalization, intra-regional flows still dominate international trade. Developed later than in Europe or America, regional trade now accounts for more than half of Asian trade.