WTO barometer indicates that trade in services lost momentum in 2019

World trade in commercial services lost momentum across various sectors through the second quarter of 2019 according to the WTO’s Services Trade Barometer. The index’s overall reading of 98.4 is below the baseline value of 100, suggesting that services trade continued to face strong headwinds leading into the second half of the year. The fall was less severe in information and communication technology services, which fell from well above trend in mid-2018 to on-trend in June.