The Transition to Modern Trade

Abstract

Over the century from 1815 to 1914 world trade underwent a profound change in both quantitative and qualitative terms. The volume of trade grew on average at between 4 and 5 per cent a year compared to 1 per cent over the preceding hundred years. This meant that a greatly increased proportion of world output entered into international exchange, as is evident from the average ratio of exports and imports to national incomes which rose from about 2–3 per cent c.1800 to approximately 30 per cent by 1913 (O’Brien, 1997, 81–2).