The slowdown in world trade has been much worse than previously reported, with global trade volumes plateauing over the past 18 months amid a rise in protectionism, according to a report.

The analysis illustrates why business leaders such as GE’s Jeff Immeltare anxious about trade and the world economy as politicians such as US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump rail against “globalism” and promise to erect barriers to commerce. 

Policymakers and economists have grown increasingly concerned about a slowdown in global trade growth. But according to a report by Global Trade Alert, which monitors protectionism around the world, that growth has disappeared with the volume of goods traded around the world stagnant since January 2015. Such a prolonged period of no growth was rare in economic history, said Simon Evenett, an economist at Switzerland’s University of St Gallen and the report’s lead author. “It really doesn’t happen very much outside of recessions.”