Global digital trade exports rose 7.1 percent year on year to 7.75 trillion U.S. dollars in 2025, highlighting the sector's resilience despite persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainty, a report released on Thursday showed.
The Global Digital Trade Development Report 2026 was released at the fifth Global Digital Trade Expo, which is being held in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, from Wednesday to Sunday.
Digital trade exports accounted for 22.2 percent of global goods and services exports last year, up 2.6 percentage points from 2021, according to the report.
The report said the sector had outpaced overall global trade growth for several consecutive years.
Digitally delivered trade accounted for about 5.26 trillion U.S. dollars, or 67.9 percent, of global digital trade exports, with cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence services being among the fastest-growing segments, said the report.
"The key trend right now is how AI and other emerging technologies are increasingly enabling digital trade. I hope this will lead to more dialogue and a broader consensus, helping to lower barriers to digital trade and allowing small and medium-sized enterprises to expand more quickly in global markets," said Xue Boyang, head of the World Economic Forum's Digital Trade Project.
For the first time, the report also featured 20 digital trade innovations from economies at different stages of development. The cases span AI applications, cross-border payments, green trade and digital intellectual property, with the aim of identifying practices that can be replicated more widely.
Global digital trade exports rise 7.1 pct in 2025: report
