HEREAS world trade 1960s, it slowed down had grown by almost 8 per cent a year in the to 5.5 per cent in the 1970s. ' In spite of this, the non-fuel exports of the developing countries grew at 6 per cent annually in the 1970s, compared with only 5 per cent in the 1960s. These averages conceal the different experiences of some low-income countries, which have experienced poor trade performance, and some highly successful middleincome countries.
GROWTH OF MANUFACTURED EXPORTS IN THE 1970s
Manufactured exports of developing countries grew more rapidly in the 1970s than in the 1960s in spite of slower growth and rising protectionist tendencies. Successful performance is a function of volume increases and avoiding reductions in relative prices. The volume of manufactured exports of the low-income oil importers rose by 90 per cent in the 1970s, but more than two thirds of this was lost by declining relative prices. The middleincome oil importers, on the other hand, raised the volume of their manufactured exports by almost 300 per cent and lost less than one third of this through a decline in relative prices.
The success in expanding manufactured exports was fairly concentrated. In 1978 only ten countries, with 45 per cent of the developing-world population, supplied more than 75 per cent of its manufactured exports; and three countries, with less than 3 per cent of the population, supplied more than 40 per cent of the total.