2024 Global Trade Recap: Record Growth, Challenges, and AI’s Role in Logistics

Global trade reached an all-time high of $33 trillion in 2024, but it wasn’t smooth sailing. From geopolitical tensions to climate disruptions and labor strikes, freight forwarders experienced a year of volatility and change. 

As the year ends; we reflect on the highs and lows of 2024 and what lies ahead for global trade and logistics in 2025.

‍2024 Global Trade and Logistic Highlights

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$1 Trillion More in Trade

Global trade grew by 3.3%, driven by a 7% boom in services and a steady 2% growth in goods trade. While the ICT and apparel industries soared, the automotive and energy sectors hit roadblocks.

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Freight market recovery

The global freight market recovered from the low of 2023 driven by geopolitical tensions and potential labor strikes in the US East Coast. The ocean freight index improved by 132% for Asia to the US East Coast and 175% for Asia to the US West Coast, while air freight increased by ~10% in demand and 12% in rates YoY.

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Geopolitical Pressures

From ongoing US-China tensions to the Red Sea Crisis disrupting shipping routes, trade flows faced heavy pressure. Freight forwarders had to adapt fast, prioritizing agility and diversifying partnerships to keep goods moving.

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2025 Key Trends and Things to Watch Out For

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Volatility in freight rates

We won't take a crystal ball and predict whether freight rates will be strong or weak over the next 12 months. One thing is for sure; a combination of potential labor strikes on the US East Coast together with a tariff war is going to make 2025 freight markets highly volatile

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Continued nearshoring

As supply chains continue de-risking away from China; manufacturing will continue to strengthen in Asia, LATAM and North Africa. This also means infrastructure constraints as most of these markets don't have strong infrastructure to support growing demand 

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Labor shortages

From potential port strikes to the continued short supply of experienced freight forwarding operators, the labor shortage will get more severe. If the freight market weakens; it will be an even bigger challenge for logistics companies to attract talent 

The combined effect of high volatility in freight rates, infrastructure constraints and labor shortages will mean the need for AI to help freight forwarding companies is greater than ever. We see AI helping freight companies with:

1. Quoting: Help freight forwarders reduce quote time from 24 hrs to a couple of minutes
2. Real-Time Supply Chain Visibility: No more guessing games. AI delivered live updates, empowering forwarders to tackle disruptions head-on and make data-driven decisions.
3. Document generation: Turn real-time data into actions as AI takes over document generation, invoice reconciliation, etc to help freight forwarders serve their clients better than ever

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