The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has said that it expects the world trade to grow at 3.7 per cent in 2012.

The total world trade grew by 5 per cent in 2011, which is much lower than 13.8 per cent recorded during 2010. The international organization blamed European sovereign debt crisis and other economic shocks for the slowdown in global trade.

A new press release from the WTO said that several setbacks to the global economy during 2011 impacted growth unexpectedly and resulted in a fall in global trade during the fourth quarter. The figure of 5 per cent for world trade growth in 2011 is 0.8 points lower than most recent forecast in September 2011.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said, "More than three years have passed since the trade collapse of 2008-09, but the world economy and trade remain fragile. The further slowing of trade expected in 2012 shows that the downside risks remain high. We are not yet out of the woods."

The release also said that the WTO has been able to put aside economic nationalism, however slow recovery in the global economy could mean that trade restrictions could undermine the benefits of trade openness. The body urged is member countries to refresh their trading regimes.

The release also pointed out that the low import demand from the Europe and the U. S. would adversely affect the emerging and developing countries.