Global goods trade continued to strengthen in mid-2026 despite persistent geopolitical and policy-related uncertainties, according to the WTO Goods Trade Barometer released on Wednesday.“The negative impact of the conflict in the Middle East continues to be partly offset by strong demand for electronic components and other goods linked to investment in artificial intelligence,” the WTO noted in a statement.The latest barometer reading of 102.0 is above both the baseline value of 100 and its previous reading of 101.7 from last June, indicating that merchandise trade is above trend and continues to gain momentum, it underlined.The Goods Trade Barometer is a composite indicator for merchandise trade, offering an early signal of where world trade is headed relative to recent trends. Readings above 100 point to above-trend trade volumes, while readings below 100 signal that trade has slipped under trend.“The strongest reading was for the electronic components index (104.9), reflecting robust demand for AI-enabling goods. The highly predictive export orders index (103.5) has also strengthened, pointing to continued growth in merchandise trade in the months ahead. The indices representing international air freight (102.8) and agricultural raw materials trade (102.6) have risen firmly above trend while the automotive products index (101.5) has risen slightly above trend,” the statement highlighted .Trade growth Only the container shipping index, at 99.6, eased a bit. “Taken together, the component indices suggest that merchandise trade growth has remained resilient despite elevated uncertainty surrounding trade policies and ongoing geopolitical tensions,” the WTO said.The reading comes against the backdrop of the WTO Secretariat’s most recent global trade outlook and statistics report, issued in March, which forecast growth in world merchandise trade volume of 1.9 per cent for the year under a baseline scenario, or 1.4 per cent under a high-energy-price scenario reflecting headwinds from the West Asia conflict. The report also noted that sustained AI investment could add half a percentage point to merchandise trade growth this year.Year-on-year growth in the volume of world merchandise trade remained positive in the first quarter of 2026, the WTO said, though trade disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are expected to show up more fully in second-quarter data once those figures become available. Published on September 9, 2026