Growth in world trade slowed sharply in the third quarter of this year as the force of the rebound from the economic crisis ebbed, figures from the Dutch CPB economic institute showed on Wednesday. World trade volumes in the three months ended September were only 0.9 percent higher than in the previous quarter, the lowest increase since the second quarter of 2009, and down from a 3.2 percent rise in the second quarter of this year.
The three-monthly figures have been slowing since January, and overall trade has still not regained its pre-crisis level, said the CPB, whose data are used by the European Commission and World Bank. The volatile monthly figures showed world trade volume fell 0.6 percent in September after rising 1.4 percent in August. Imports fell everywhere except in Latin America in September, with a particularly strong fall in the euro area.