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Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy
Supporting policy with scientific evidence

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  • Publication | 2021
Changing Patterns of Agrifood Trade: The Rising Importance of Developing Countries
Global Food and Nutrition Security

Highlights

  • The value of global agrifood trade in real terms has more than doubled in the past three decades, but growth has slowed down since the 2008 financial crisis.

  • While continuing to grow, world agrifood trade did so at a slower pace than the total global merchandise trade. As a result, its share in total global merchandise exports has declined.

  • Participation of developing countries in global agrifood markets is on the rise, underscoring their increasing significance in global agricultural and food trade. However, participation of least-developed countries (LDCs) continues to be limited.

  • Over the last two decades, most LDCs changed from being net agricultural exporters to net agricultural importers