Study the following table and answer the questions that follow :
World : Imports and Exports (in millions of U.S. $)
| Year | Exports Total Merchandise | Imports Total Merchandise |
|---|---|---|
| 1955 | 95,000 | 99,000 |
| 1965 | 1,90,000 | 1,99,000 |
| 1975 | 8,77,000 | 9,12,000 |
| 1985 | 19,54,000 | 20,15,000 |
| 1995 | 51,62,000 | 52,92,000 |
| 2005 | 1,03,93,000 | 1,07,53,000 |
| 2015 | 1,55,83,232 | 1,56,28,204 |
(9.1) Which aspect of trade has shown rapid growth ?
(9.2) Has the total volume of trade increased or decreased ?
(9.3) Why does import take place ? Write any two reasons. [Visually Impaired alternative in lieu of Q.9: Explain three important aspects of international trade.]
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Global merchandise trade has exploded from under 200 billion dollars in the 1950s to over 300 trillion by 2015, with both exports and imports growing in near-lockstep, driven by specialisation and the need for goods unavailable domestically.
The Explosive Growth of World Trade
The table captures one of the defining economic stories of the past seventy years: the extraordinary expansion of international commerce. In 1955, the world exported goods worth 95,000 million dollars and imported slightly more at 99,000 million. These were modest figures, reflecting an era when many economies remained inward-looking, still rebuilding from war, and constrained by limited transport and communication technology. By 2015, exports had surged to over 1.5 trillion dollars, and imports had climbed to nearly the same level. This is not gradual change—it is a transformation in the scale and integration of the global economy.
What stands out immediately is the pace of acceleration. Between 1955 and 1965, trade roughly doubled. But the real explosion came after 1975. The jump from 1975 to 1985 saw trade more than double again, and each subsequent decade brought even larger absolute increases. The period from 1995 to 2005 alone added roughly 5 trillion dollars to both exports and imports. This reflects the opening of markets, the rise of multinational production chains, advances in shipping and digital coordination, and the entry of populous nations into the global trading system.
The figures are in millions of U.S. dollars, so 1,55,83,232 means approximately 1.56 trillion dollars—a scale almost unimaginable in the mid-twentieth century.
Which Aspect Has Grown Fastest?
Both exports and imports have grown rapidly, but the question asks which aspect has shown the most dramatic expansion. The answer lies in recognising that the total volume of trade—the sum of exports and imports—has increased at an extraordinary rate. If we look at the ratio of trade in 2015 to trade in 1955, we find that the world is moving more than 160 times the value of goods across borders compared to sixty years earlier. This is not merely growth; it is a structural shift in how economies relate to one another.
Within that growth, both sides of the ledger have moved in tandem. Exports and imports track each other closely across every decade in the table. This makes sense: one country's export is another's import, and in aggregate the two must balance (allowing for statistical discrepancies and services not captured here). The aspect that has truly surged is the interconnectedness of national economies, reflected in the sheer scale of cross-border flows.
Has Total Trade Volume Increased or Decreased?
The total volume of trade has increased dramatically. There is no ambiguity here. Adding exports and imports for each year gives a sense of the total merchandise moving through the global trading system:
- 1955: 194,000 million dollars
- 1965: 389,000 million dollars
- 1975: 1,789,000 million dollars
- 1985: 3,969,000 million dollars
- 1995: 10,454,000 million dollars
- 2005: 21,146,000 million dollars
- 2015: 31,211,436 million dollars
The trend is unbroken upward movement. Even in percentage terms, the growth rates remain high decade after decade, though they moderate slightly as the base becomes larger. The world economy has become vastly more open, with trade growing faster than global GDP for much of this period—a sign that countries are specialising more and relying more on each other for goods.
The near-equality of exports and imports in each year is not coincidental. At the global level, every dollar exported by one country must be imported by another, so the two totals should match (minor differences arise from timing, measurement, and unrecorded transactions).
Why Does Import Take Place?
Countries import for reasons rooted in both necessity and advantage. Two central reasons stand out: …
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