Five pillars of global cooperation Measuring cooperation along five pillars presents a picture of where cooperation is increasing and where it isn’t. The Global Cooperation Barometer measures global cooperation across five areas, or pillars: trade and capital flows, innovation and technology, climate and natural capital, health and wellness, and peace and security. Each pillar examines evidence of cooperative actions and outcomes of these actions to determine an overall level of global cooperation in that area.1 Pillar 1 Cooperation dropped slightly, driven mostly by reductions in goods trade from China and developing economies. These declines were partially offset by growing flows of capital, services and people. The trade and capital pillar looks at cooperation through flows of goods and services, trade, capital and people. It includes metrics about the magnitude of flows – such as foreign direct investment or labour migration – and the distribution of flows (including trade concentration and developing country share of manufactured goods). The global trade and capital flows pillar was on an upward trajectory from 2012 to 2022, overcoming even the volatility during the pandemic (see Figure 4). In 2023, this pillar experienced a small decline, though almost all indicators remain above their pre-pandemic averages (above the black line in Figure 5). The exceptions are foreign portfolio investment (FPI) and trade concentration, which sit below their pre-pandemic averages.Trade of goods dropped by 5% in 2023, partially reversing some of the large growth experienced in the prior two years.28 China accounted for nearly 15% of the reduction in global exports in 2023, and other emerging economies accounted for another 45% – both as a result of increased conflicts29 and slower economic growth. Trade between Western and Eastern- aligned economies declined, while trade between partners who are geopolitically aligned increased, indicating an apparent intensification of geopolitical fragmentation.30 The World Trade Organization (WTO) projects the goods trade will increase by 2.7% in 2024,31 but warns that “geopolitical tensions and increased economic policy uncertainty” are putting the near-term and medium-term growth forecasts into question. There are strong headwinds ahead – interventions such as tariffs have increased three- to six-fold on trade between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, since 2017.32Trade and capital Trade between partners who are geopolitically aligned increased, indicating an apparent intensification of geopolitical fragmentation. 11 The Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 Second Edition