The World Trade Organization (WTO) has predicted global goods trade to slowly recover in 2024 following a contraction last year. The volume of world merchandise trade is projected to increase by 2.6% in 2024 and 3.3% in 2025 after falling 1.2% in 2023, the WTO said last month but cautioned that regional conflicts, geopolitical tensions and economic policy uncertainties pose substantial downside risks to the forecast.