BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 20. The World Trade Organization (WTO) projects moderate growth in exports and a slowdown in imports over the next two years, Trend reports.
According to the WTO's baseline forecast, CIS exports are expected to grow by 4% in 2025, with an adjusted forecast slightly higher at 4.4%. This comes after a modest rebound of 2.3% in 2024, following a 4.3% decline in 2023.
However, growth is projected to stagnate in 2026, with the baseline forecast showing a slight contraction of 0.1% and the adjusted version indicating marginal growth of 0.1%.
On the import side, the region is expected to see a significant deceleration compared to the post-pandemic surge. After jumping by 18% in 2023 and slowing to 5% in 2024, import growth is forecast at just 0.1% in 2025 (0.5% in the adjusted scenario), before picking up to 2.1% in 2026 under both forecasts.