International Trade Monitor

The Western Union Business Solutions International Trade Monitor is the only piece of research available that tracks the confidence and sentiment of Britain’s SME importers and exporters. It is a quarterly report that has been running since March 2010. The research is conducted on behalf of Western Union Business Solutions, a business unit of the Western Union Company (NYSE:WU).

Read the International Trade Monitor - April 2013

What is the International Trade Monitor (ITM)?

The ITM is a measure of the views, sentiments and confidences of the UK’s SME importers and exporters.

Developed in partnership with TNS-RI, the index has been running since March 2010 and is released quarterly.

The ITM measures the views and sentiments of the UK’s importers and exporters across three sub-monitors:

  • The Global Outlook Monitor measures importers and exporters views on international trade conditions and general economic growth.
  • The Current Situation Monitor measures importers and exporters views on current government policies and availability of business credit.
  • The Expectations Monitor measures importers and exporters views on whether international trade conditions will improve in 12 months and whether their business will see growth in its international activity.

Why is the International Trade Monitor (ITM) important?

The ITM is a key measure of the mood, sentiment and confidences of the UK’s SME importers and exporters.

Exports have taken on a renewed importance in the wake of the financial crisis, as policymakers steer the UK towards an export-led economic recovery.

Whilst we have access to official government statistics on international trade, there has been little research that regularly tracks the views of importers and exporters on the ground.

With this in mind, Western Union Business Solutions/Travelex Global Business Payments felt it was crucial to create a monitor that measured the views of the businesses that are driving our economic recovery. Whilst the ITM does not measure the level of imports or exports or attach a financial value to it, assessing how secure SME importers and exporters feel within their businesses offers us an indication on future international trading conditions and the UK economy.

Nothing on this page purports to provide any financial, investment or professional advice and Western Union Business Solutions makes no representation, warranty or condition of any kind, expressed or implied.