27 February
2025
UNECE, together with the other four United Nations regional commissions and the United Nations Trade and Development Organization (UNCTAD), has launched the Sixth UN Global Survey on Facilitating Digital and Sustainable Trade by 2025.
The UN Global Survey 2025 consists of 62 measures, including new measures on “Trade Facilitation for e-Commerce” and “Green Trade Facilitation”. In addition to measures supporting the implementation of the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA), the survey also covers the implementation of advanced measures to facilitate paperless and cross-border trade, as well as measures supporting more inclusive and sustainable trade, thus moving towards the implementation of “WTO TFA+”.
Preliminary results of the 2025 survey are expected to be published in July on untfsurvey.org , followed by global and regional reports. The survey aims to provide in-depth information to support countries and policymakers in using trade as a key tool for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In addition to providing an overview of progress in promoting digital and sustainable trade, the survey also supports countries in:
• Developing national trade facilitation roadmaps, such as the recent National Trade Facilitation Roadmap of Uzbekistan, prepared with technical assistance from UNECE;
• Better reporting on the WTO accession process of UNECE member States. For example, the UNECE Regional Report 2024 included a focus section highlighting the progress of trade facilitation measures in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the context of their WTO accession process.
The 2024 UNECE Regional Report, based on the results of the 2023 UN Global Survey, showed that the trade facilitation performance of the 48 UNECE member States surveyed improved by 5% compared to the 2021 survey, and the implementation rate of trade facilitation measures increased from 76% in 2021 to almost 81% in 2023.
Trade facilitation implementation rates by country group, UNECE, 2021 and 2023 (%).
Source: UNECE, based on the United Nations Global Survey on Facilitating Digital and Sustainable Trade, 2023.
Among all UN regional commissions, UNECE had an overall higher level of implementation compared to the global average, with the indicators for “Transparency” having the highest implementation rate of 96%, followed by “Formalities” at 87%.
Global and UNECE implementation rates for “General” and “Digital Trade Facilitation” measures, 2023 (%).
Source: UNECE based on the UN Global Survey on Facilitating Digital and Sustainable Trade, 2023.
Regarding the implementation rates for digital trade facilitation measures in the UNECE region, the average rate for “paperless trade” reached 82%, while the rate for “cross-border paperless trade” was relatively lower at 56%.
Implementation rate for “General” and “Digital Trade Facilitation” measures by type of measure, UNECE, 2021 and 2023 (%).
Source: UNECE based on the UN Global Survey on Facilitating Digital and Sustainable Trade, 2023.
The report’s findings also offer clear directions for the future, highlighting the importance of actively engaging UNECE member States and partner international organizations in accelerating the implementation of trade facilitation measures. In light of the current challenges facing international trade, enhanced cooperation between governments and international organizations is critical.
Governments, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations can contribute to the development of additional UN/CEFACT standards and accelerate the implementation of trade facilitation measures, including those that use digital technologies that facilitate climate-smart trade while reducing trade costs and trade-related workflows.
UNECE calls on all relevant actors and donors to continue to contribute to the substantial work of UN/CEFACT in developing and updating policy instruments and tools, including recommendations, standards and guidance materials, and to continue to provide additional support and financial resources related to capacity-building and technical assistance activities in the 17 programme countries to implement these UN/CEFACT recommendations and enhance progress in trade facilitation in the region.
The survey is an initiative under the UNREC Common Approach to Trade Facilitation, agreed upon by the Executive Secretaries of the five UN Regional Commissions. This approach was designed to enable the Regional Commissions to present a common perspective on key facilitation issues.trade, in particular at the regional and interregional levels, and to enhance the effectiveness of technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives.
As the international focal point for trade facilitation recommendations and standards, UNECE develops tools to reduce, harmonize and digitize procedures in international trade. The survey also provides an opportunity to monitor the implementation and impact of such solutions on economic cooperation and integration both in the region and globally.
If you are a trade facilitation expert in your country and would like to participate in the survey, click here to download the questionnaire and to learn more about the survey methodology. For more information, please contact Ms. Jie Wei directly.