, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where regional barriers to trade, (
from 1871. Surges of trade bloc formation were seen in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as in the 1990s after the collapse of Communism. By 1997, more than 50% of all world commerce was conducted under the auspices of regional trade blocs.
Jeffrey J. Scott of the Peterson Institute for International Economics notes that members of successful trade blocs usually share four common traits: similar levels of per capita
, geographic proximity, similar or compatible trading regimes, and political commitment to regional organization.
are generally opposed to trading blocs, which, they argue, encourage regional as opposed to global free trade. Scholars and economists continue to debate whether regional trade blocs are leading to a more fragmented world economy or encouraging the extension of the existing global
trading system. Trade blocs can be stand-alone agreements between several states (such as the
). Depending on the level of
| Trade bloc |
Population |
Gross domestic product |
Members |
| 2006 |
2007 |
growth |
per capita |
| Common markets, Economic An economic union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a common market with a customs union. The participant countries have both common policies on product regulation, freedom of movement of goods, services and the factors of production and a common external trade policy.The countries...
andAn economic and monetary union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of an economic union with a monetary union. It is to be distinguished from a mere monetary union , which does not involve a common market. This is the fifth stage of economic integration...
Monetary unions |
| EMU The Economic and Monetary Union is an umbrella term for the group of policies aimed at converging the economies of members of the European Union in three stages so as to allow them to adopt a single currency, the euro. As such, it is largely synonymous with the eurozone.All member states of the...
|
324,879,195 |
10,685,946,928,310 |
12,225,304,229,686 |
14.41% |
37,630 |
|
OECSThe Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States , created in 1981, is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance between countries and dependencies in the Eastern Caribbean...
|
593,905 |
3,752,679,562 |
3,998,281,731 |
6.54% |
6,732 |
|
| OII |
504,476 |
12,264,278,329 |
14,165,953,200 |
15.51% |
28,081 |
|
| CCCM |
6,418,417 |
39,616,485,623 |
43,967,600,765 |
10.98% |
6,850 |
|
| EEA The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
|
499,620,521 |
14,924,076,504,592 |
17,186,876,431,709 |
15.16% |
34,400 |
|
| Customs and monetary union An customs and monetary union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a customs union and a currency union. The participant countries have both common external trade policy and share a single currency....
s |
| CEMAC |
39,278,645 |
51,265,460,685 |
58,519,380,755 |
14.15% |
1,490 |
|
| UEMOA |
90,299,945 |
50,395,629,494 |
58,453,871,283 |
15.99% |
647 |
|
| Customs union A customs union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas...
s |
| CAN |
96,924,486 |
281,269,141,372 |
334,172,968,648 |
18.81% |
3,448 |
|
EACThe East African Community is an intergovernmental organisation comprising the five east African countries Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of the Republic of Burundi, is the current Chairman of the East African Community. The EAC was originally...
|
127,107,838 |
49,882,030,443 |
61,345,180,041 |
22.98% |
483 |
|
| EUCU The European Union Customs Union is a customs union which consists of all the Member States of the European Union and a number of surrounding countries....
|
574,602,745 |
15,331,827,900,202 |
17,679,376,474,719 |
15.31% |
30,768 |
|
| GCC |
36,154,528 |
724,460,151,595 |
802,641,302,477 |
10.79% |
22,200 |
|
| MERCOSUR |
271,304,946 |
1,517,510,000,000 |
1,886,817,000,000 |
12.44% |
9,757 |
|
| SACU The Southern African Customs Union is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.-History:SACU is the oldest still existing customs union in the world...
|
268,445,656 |
1,499,811,549,187 |
1,848,337,158,281 |
23.24% |
6,885 |
|
| Preferential trade areas and Free trade area A free trade area is a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free trade agreement , which eliminates tariffs, import quotas, and preferences on most goods and services traded between them. If people are also free to move between the countries, in addition to FTA, it would also be...
s |
| AANZFTA-ASEAN+3 |
2,085,858,841 |
10,216,029,899,764 |
11,323,947,181,804 |
10.84% |
5,429 |
|
ALADIThe Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración is a Latin American trade integration association, based in Montevideo. Its main objective is the establishment of a common market, in pursuit of the economic and social development of the region...
|
499,807,662 |
2,823,198,095,131 |
3,292,088,771,480 |
16.61% |
6,587 |
|
| AFTZ |
553,915,405 |
643,541,709,413 |
739,927,625,273 |
14.98% |
1,336 |
|
| APTA The , previouslyknown as the and renamed 2 November 2005, was signed in1975. It is the oldest preferential trade agreement between developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region....
|
2,714,464,027 |
4,868,614,302,744 |
5,828,692,637,764 |
19.72% |
2,147 |
|
CARIFORUMThe Caribbean Community is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy...
-EUCUThe European Union Customs Union is a customs union which consists of all the Member States of the European Union and a number of surrounding countries....
-OCTs |
592,083,950 |
15,437,771,092,522 |
17,798,283,524,961 |
15.29% |
30,060 |
|
| CACM |
37,388,063 |
87,209,524,889 |
97,718,800,794 |
12.05% |
2,614 |
|
CEFTAThe Central European Free Trade Agreement is a trade agreement between non-EU countries in Southeast Europe.-Members:As of 1 May 2007, the parties of the CEFTA agreement are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo.Former...
|
27,968,711 |
110,263,802,023 |
135,404,501,031 |
22.80% |
4,841 |
|
CISFTAThe Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
|
272,897,834 |
1,271,909,586,018 |
1,661,429,920,721 |
30.62% |
6,088 |
|
| DR-CAFTA-US |
356,964,477 |
13,345,469,865,037 |
14,008,686,684,089 |
4.97% |
39,244 |
|
ECOWASThe Economic Community of West African States is a regional group of fifteen West African countries. Founded on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region....
|
283,096,250 |
215,999,071,943 |
255,784,634,128 |
18.42% |
904 |
|
EFTAThe European Free Trade Association or EFTA is a free trade organisation between four European countries that operates parallel to, and is linked to, the European Union . EFTA was established on 3 May 1960 as a trade bloc-alternative for European states who were either unable to, or chose not to,...
-SACUSacu is a commune in Caraş-Severin County, western Romania with a population of 1681 people. It is composed of three villages: Sacu, Sălbăgelu Nou and Tincova.-References:...
|
68,199,991 |
1,021,509,931,918 |
1,139,385,636,888 |
11.54% |
16,707 |
|
| EAEC The Eurasian Economic Community originated from the Commonwealth of Independent States customs union between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan on 29 March 1996...
|
207,033,990 |
1,125,634,333,117 |
1,465,256,182,498 |
30.17% |
7,077 |
|
NAFTAThe North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
|
449,227,672 |
15,337,094,304,218 |
16,189,097,801,318 |
5.56% |
36,038 |
|
| TPP The Trans-Pacific Partnership , also known as the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, is a multilateral free trade agreement that aims to further liberalise the economies of the Asia-Pacific region; specifically, Article 1.1.3 notes: “The Parties seek to support the wider...
|
25,639,622 |
401,810,366,865 |
468,101,167,294 |
16.50% |
18,257 |
|
| SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an organisation of South Asian nations, founded in December 1985 by Ziaur Rahman and dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development emphasising collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Bangladesh,...
|
1,567,187,373 |
1,162,684,650,544 |
1,428,392,756,312 |
22.85% |
911 |
|
| SPARTECA |
35,079,659 |
918,557,785,031 |
1,102,745,750,172 |
20.05% |
31,435 |
|
This list is based on the data obtained from Statistics Division.
| Activities |
| Regional bloc | Free Trade Area A free trade area is a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free trade agreement , which eliminates tariffs, import quotas, and preferences on most goods and services traded between them. If people are also free to move between the countries, in addition to FTA, it would also be...
| |Economic and monetary union An economic and monetary union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of an economic union with a monetary union. It is to be distinguished from a mere monetary union , which does not involve a common market. This is the fifth stage of economic integration...
| Free TravelTravel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
| | Political Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
pact | |Defence pact |
| Customs Union A customs union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas...
| Single Market A single market is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of production and of enterprise and services. The goal is that the movement of capital, labour, goods, and services between the members...
| Currency Union A currency union is where two or more states share the same currency, though without there necessarily having any further integration such as an Economic and Monetary Union, which has in addition a customs union and a single market.There are three types of currency unions:#Informal - unilateral...
| Visa-freeA visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
| Border-lessBorder controls are measures used by a country to monitor or regulate its borders.The control of the flow of many people, animals and goods across a border may be controlled by government Customs services. Security is enforced by various kinds of Border Guards and Coast Guards...
|
EUThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
|
in force |
in force7 |
in force The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
2 |
in forceThe eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
1 |
in force |
in force
(Schengen 1, 7 and CTAThe Common Travel Area is a passport-free zone that comprises the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The area's internal borders are subject to minimal or non-existent border controls and can normally be crossed by Irish and British citizens with only...
1) |
in force |
in force
(NATO 1, 7 and CFSPThe Common Foreign and Security Policy is the organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union for mainly security and defence diplomacy and actions. CFSP deals only with a specific part of the EU's external relations, which domains include mainly Trade and Commercial Policy and other areas...
/ESDPThe Common Security and Defence Policy , formerly known as the European Security and Defence Policy , is a major element of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union and is the domain of EU policy covering defence and military aspects...
1) |
ESAThe European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
1, 7 |
EFTAThe European Free Trade Association or EFTA is a free trade organisation between four European countries that operates parallel to, and is linked to, the European Union . EFTA was established on 3 May 1960 as a trade bloc-alternative for European states who were either unable to, or chose not to,...
|
in force |
|
in force The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
2, 7 |
|
in force |
in force 1, 7 |
|
in force 1, 7 |
ESAThe European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
1, 7 |
CARICOMThe Caribbean Community is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy...
|
in force |
in force |
in force The CARICOM Single Market and Economy, also known as the Caribbean Single Market and Economy , is an integrated development strategy envisioned at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community which took place in July 1989 in Grand Anse, Grenada...
1 |
in forceThe East Caribbean dollar is the currency of eight of the nine members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States...
1 and
proposed common |
in force 1 |
proposed |
proposed |
|
NWFZ The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean...
|
AUThe African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
| ECOWASThe Economic Community of West African States is a regional group of fifteen West African countries. Founded on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region....
| in force 1, 3
| in force 1
| proposed
| in force 1 and
proposed for 2012 1 and
proposed common
| in force 1
| proposed
| proposed
| in force
| NWFZ1
|
ECCAS The Economic Community of Central African States is an Economic Community of the African Union for promotion of regional economic co-operation in Central Africa...
| in force1
| in force1
| proposed
| in force1
| in force
|
|
| in force
| NWFZ1
|
EACThe East African Community is an intergovernmental organisation comprising the five east African countries Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of the Republic of Burundi, is the current Chairman of the East African Community. The EAC was originally...
| in force
| in force
| proposed for 2015
| proposed for 2012 The shilling was the currency issued for use in British controlled areas in East Africa from 1921 until 1969. It was produced by the East African Currency Board...
| proposed
| ?
| proposed for 2015
|
| NWFZ1
|
SADCThe Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states...
| in force1
| in force The Southern African Customs Union is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.-History:SACU is the oldest still existing customs union in the world...
1
| proposed for 2015
| de-facto in force The Common Monetary Area links South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland into a monetary union. It is allied to the Southern African Customs Union . Namibia automatically became a member upon independence, but withdrew with the introduction of the Namibian dollar in 1993...
1 and proposed common for 2016
| proposed
|
|
|
| NWFZ1
|
COMESAThe Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, is a free trade area with nineteen member states stretching from Libya to Zimbabwe. COMESA formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981...
| in force1
| proposed for 2010
| ?
| proposed for 2018
|
|
|
|
| NWFZ1
|
CommonThe African Economic Community is an organization of African Union states establishing grounds for mutual economic development among the majority of African states...
| proposed for 2019
| proposed for 2019
| proposed for 2023
| proposed for 2028
|
|
| proposed for 2028
|
| NWFZ1 |
|
UNASUR
| MERCOSURMercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
| in force
| in force
| proposed for 2015
|
| in force
|
| proposed for 2014
|
| NWFZ The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean...
|
CAN
| in force
| in force 1
| proposed1
|
| in force
|
|
|
| NWFZ The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean...
|
Common
| proposed for 2014 4
| proposed for not after 2019
| proposed for 2019
| proposed for 2019
| in force
| proposed for 2019
| proposed
| in force
| NWFZ The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean...
>
|
| EurAsEC The Eurasian Economic Community originated from the Commonwealth of Independent States customs union between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan on 29 March 1996...
|
in force1 |
in force The Customs Union between Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia came into existence on January 1, 2010. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia are to go on with economic integration and were set to remove all customs borders between each other after July 2011....
1 |
proposed for 20121 |
Proposed |
in force |
|
|
in forceThe Collective Security Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed on 15 May 1992. On 7 October 2002, the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed a charter in Tashkent founding the CSTO.Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed...
1 |
|
|
ALThe Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
| GCC
| in force
| proposed for 2012
| proposed
| proposed 1
| in force
|
|
|
|
|
CommonThe Council of Arab Economic Unity was established by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen on 3 June 1957...
| in force1
| proposed for 2015 The Arab customs union is a customs union announced at the Arab League's 2009 Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Kuwait in order to achieve a functional customs union by 2015 and an Arab common market by 2020 and to increase inter-Arab trade and integration.The announcement was made by...
| proposed for 2020
| proposedThe Arab Monetary Fund is a regional Arab organization, founded 1976, and operational from 1977. It is a working sub-organization of the Arab League.-Objectives:...
|
|
| proposed
|
| >
|
ASEANThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated ASEAN rarely ), is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has...
|
in forceASEAN Free Trade Area is a trade bloc agreement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations supporting local manufacturing in all ASEAN countries....
5 |
|
proposed for 2015 |
proposed 8 |
in force |
|
proposed for 2015 |
proposed for 2020 |
NWFZ |
CAISCentral American Integration System is the economic, cultural and political organization of Central American states since February 1, 1993. It was on December 13, 1991, however, when all the countries of the ODECA signed the Protocol of Tegucigalpa which extended the earlier cooperation in search...
|
in force1 |
proposed |
? |
|
in force1 |
in force The Central America-4 Border Control Agreement was a treaty signed in June 2006 between the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, establishing the free movement across borders between the four signatory states of its citizens without any restrictions or checks...
1 |
proposed The Central American Parliament , also known as PARLACEN is a political institution devoted to the integration of the Central American countries. Its headquarters are in Guatemala City....
|
|
NWFZ The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean...
|
CEFTAThe Central European Free Trade Agreement is a trade agreement between non-EU countries in Southeast Europe.-Members:As of 1 May 2007, the parties of the CEFTA agreement are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo.Former...
|
in force |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RCC7 |
| NAFTA |
in force |
|
|
|
|
|
|
in force 1, 7 |
|
| SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an organisation of South Asian nations, founded in December 1985 by Ziaur Rahman and dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development emphasising collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Bangladesh,...
|
in force 1, 6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PIFThe Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum...
|
proposed for 20211 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NWFZThe Treaty of Rarotonga is the common name for the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which formalizes a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the South Pacific...
1 |