BETA version
WTO logo

WTO Tariff & Trade Data

Over 80 per cent of global merchandise trade is on most-favoured-nation basis

Blog post Published on 22/01/2025
 By Tomasz Gonciarz and Thomas Verbeet

The WTO's non-discriminatory “most-favoured-nation” (MFN) trading principle, whereby WTO members extend any trade advantage granted to one trading partner to all other partners, remains a cornerstone of global trade. More than four-fifths of international merchandise trade is conducted on this basis despite the proliferation of preferential trade agreements and other trade measures, as demonstrated by a recent WTO working paper (https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/ersd202502_e.pdf).  
Over 80 per cent of global merchandise trade is on most-favoured-nation basis
The MFN principle ensures non-discrimination in global trade, fostering stability and fairness in the global trading environment. This principle has retained its centrality despite the rise of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) since the 1990s resulting in some divergence from MFN principles.

PTAs encompass hundreds of bilateral and regional agreements while unilateral schemes like the Generalized System of Preferences allow developed economies to grant preferential tariffs to imports from developing economies. There are also trade policy measures that may diverge from the MFN principle, as they apply to specific WTO members rather than to the entire WTO membership.

However, a novel dataset from the WTO's Integrated Database (IDB), including detailed statistics on preference utilization and supplementary sources, shows that MFN trade is still very largely prevalent.

Read more

Latest posts

[Blog post] Tariffs on critical minerals and their role in the electric vehicle value chain

[Blog post] Sports goods trade sees threefold growth over past 30 years

[Blog post] Trade data reveal changing patterns in electric vehicles market

[Blog post] Thirty years of trade growth and poverty reduction

[Blog post] High demand for energy-related critical minerals creates supply chain pressures.

[Blog post] Trade in wine and vine products on the rise

[Blog post] Key trends in world trade revealed by new classification public.em

[News article] MTN Categories : product classification for WTO trade statistics and policy analysis

[Blog post] Global imports of seaborne wheat maintain upward trend

[Blog post] Tariffs applied by WTO members have almost halved since 1996