SINGAPORE, 17 October 2025 – Asia Pacific continues to play an increasingly central role in sustaining global trade resilience, even as international commerce faces new headwinds from U.S. tariff escalations under President Trump’s second term.
A new special update of the DHL Global Connectedness Tracker, developed in collaboration with New York University’s Stern School of Business, provides the first systematic assessment of how trade and business investment are adjusting to these policy shifts.
“Asia Pacific’s performance stands out due to its adaptability and strategic positioning, and the latest data shows how collaboration in the region is deepening even amid global uncertainty,” said Ken Lee, CEO for Asia Pacific, DHL Express.
“From ASEAN’s rising role in absorbing trade flows to countries across the region engaging more intensively with their neighbours, businesses in Asia Pacific are proving agile and forward-looking. DHL is well-positioned to support our customers in navigating any shifts in trade patterns, and we will continue to build capabilities where our customers want to be.”
The DHL Global Connectedness Tracker found that international trade grew faster in the first half of 2025 than in any comparable period since 2010, excluding the post-pandemic rebound. U.S. imports surged early in the year as buyers rushed to frontload purchases ahead of tariff hikes.
Even after the surge levelled off, global trade volumes stayed higher than a year earlier. Among the world’s 100 largest trade lanes, six of the 10 fastest-growing routes originated from an Asian economy, reinforcing the region’s pivotal role in global trade momentum.
Notably, Hong Kong SAR, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam ranked among the top 10 fastest-growing markets by trade value, underscoring the Asia Pacific’s growing influence and supply chain resilience.
Trade within Asia continues to deepen. The East Asia & Pacific intra-regional trade share rose from 55% to 56%, highlighting stronger regional integration and shorter trade distances.
Among the top 50 trading nations, Thailand, China, Singapore, and Hong Kong SAR saw the greatest declines in average trade distance, reflecting their strategic pivot toward regional partners to sustain growth. This trend also signals ongoing improvements in connectivity, infrastructure, and logistics networks, factors that enhance Asia’s appeal as a trade hub.
Despite a 15% decline in exports to the United States during the first eight months of 2025, China offset the drop by boosting exports to ASEAN by an equivalent 15%, underscoring the bloc’s growing strategic importance in Beijing’s trade portfolio.
Vietnam, Thailand, and India recorded the largest increases in their share of China’s exports, while the U.S., Russia, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico saw declines. This shift highlights ASEAN’s expanding role as a key growth engine in Asia’s supply chain diversification.
“Trade and international business investment trends so far in 2025 do not support the view that globalisation has gone into reverse,” said Professor Steven A. Altman, Director of the DHL Initiative on Globalization at NYU Stern’s Center for the Future of Management.
“While it would be a mistake to disregard policy threats, companies are not generally pulling back from international markets. Trade is crossing the longest average distance on record, and geopolitical conflicts have reshaped only a small fraction of global activity. The data shows that firms are managing risks, not retreating.”
The DHL Global Connectedness Tracker is a concise analytical report and interactive website that monitors globalisation and international trade dynamics. Drawing from more than 25 public, private, and academic data sources, it evaluates over 20 million data points on trade, capital, information, and people flows.
Commissioned by DHL and authored by Prof. Steven A. Altman and Caroline R. Bastian of NYU Stern, the Tracker complements the widely cited DHL Global Connectedness Report, first published in 2011.
