# Global Economy Shifts with Expanding International Standards, but Developing Nations Struggle to Keep Pace, Reports World Bank

- Link: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/trade/267948-global-economy-shifts-with-expanding-international-standards-but-developing-nations-struggle-to-keep-pace-reports-world-bank
- Published: 2025-12-11T12:02:15+07:00
- Author: Fang Zhang

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2025 — A growing spectrum of international standards, spanning
from food labeling regulations to 5G cellular network specifications, is steadily
reshaping the global economic landscape. These standards offer substantial benefits
to affluent nations and powerful multinational corporations that set them, while
sidelining numerous developing countries, according to a new World Bank report. 
Report Highlights Increasing Disparities for Developing Nations.

## Key Highlights

 * International standards have become a **core pillar of the global economy**, 
   shaping everything from food safety to digital infrastructure.
 * The number of global standards is **surging**, with more than **7,000 new standards
   issued in 2024** alone.
 * Wealthy nations and large corporations dominate standard‑setting bodies, leaving**
   developing countries under‑represented** and at risk of falling behind.
 * Non‑tariff measures—such as labeling rules and safety requirements—now affect**
   around 90% of global trade**, up from 15% in the late 1990s.
 * The World Bank warns that standards can act as **hidden trade barriers**, influencing
   market access and competitiveness.
 * The report proposes an **“Adapt–Align–Author”** strategy to help developing countries
   build capacity and participate more effectively in global standard‑setting.
 * Japan’s post‑war rise is highlighted as a model: strategic adoption and refinement
   of international standards helped transform its global manufacturing reputation.
 * The World Bank and ISO call for **more inclusive participation** to ensure standards
   support equitable global development.

Today, standards are foundational economic infrastructure, as vital to prosperity
as roads or ports, according to the [_World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development_](https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2025),
which provides the first comprehensive analysis of the landscape of global standards.
By making the transportation of goods seamless, the standardization of the shipping
container boosted global trade to a greater extent than all of the trade agreements
of the last 60 years, the report notes. Since the turn of the century, however, 
standards have also become weapons in trade wars: non-tariff measures such pesticide
specifications or labeling requirements, for example, now affect 90 percent of global
trade, up from just 15% in the late 1990s. 

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_“Standards are both central and unsung today,” _said **IndermitGill, Chief Economist
of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. **_“
When they’re set right, they go unnoticed: the ship sails through the canal, the
building withstands an earthquake, a kilogram weighs the same in Kenya as in Canada,
and no one gives the gains that come a second thought. The standardized shipping
container might well have catalyzed more trade in manufactured goods than all the
trade deals put together. Digital standards could do the same for the services trade._

> _When countries are active in adapting, aligning, and authoring standards, they
> are a powerful tool for growth and poverty reduction. This report is the first
> assessment of the role of standards in economic development–and a call to developing
> nations to make them a core component of their development strategies.”_ 
> **IndermitGill, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President
> for Development Economics**

“The World Bank’s decision to dedicate the 2025 World Development Report to standards
sends a powerful signal: international standards are no longer invisible infrastructure–
they are critical enablers of sustainable, inclusive development,” said **Sergio
Mujica, Secretary-General of the International Organization for Standardization (
ISO), **the world’s largest standard-setting body, which surveyed 173 national standards
bodies in support of the data-gathering work for the report.

> “Unlocking the full development potential of standards means ensuring all countries
> can participate in their creation and implement them. This report is a timely 
> call to action to strengthen global participation and cooperation in standardization.”
> **Sergio Mujica, Secretary-General of the International Organization for Standardization(
> ISO)**

The global appetite for standards has surged. More than half of the 20,000 standards
issued over the last seven decades by ISO have been created since 2000, the report
notes. In 2024 alone, key global standard-setting bodies issued more than 7,000 
standards. Not enough developing countries are at the table when standards are written—
because they often lack the resources and expertise needed to participate. On average,
they sit on less than one-third of the technical committees that determine global
standards at ISO, and even fewer in other bodies. Supporting broader, more strategic
participation is key to ensuring that standards are globally relevant and reflect
diverse development needs and contexts. 

Turning standards into a springboard for development requires a deliberate strategy.
The report proposes an _adapt-align-author_ framework for countries at different
stages of development.  At low levels of development, countries should _adapt _international
standards to local realities, so firms can learn and markets can grow. It isn’t 
wise to blindly copy the most stringent global standards—local ambitions should 
match local capacity.  

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As local capacity grows, countries can _align_ with international standards, cutting
duplication, easing market entry, and helping firms compete abroad. At the same 
time, countries can shape international standards, ensuring they reflect national
priorities. Finally, as they grow wealthier, developing countries should_ author_
new standards or update existing ones.  

Japan exemplifies how countries can use standards to turbocharge development, according
to the report. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Japanese consumer exports
were widely considered to be of low quality and unreliable. But the country focused
on becoming a high-quality manufacturer, initially copying and then improving upon
ideas from abroad. It did so through the Japanese Standards Association and the 
widespread adoption of Total Quality Management, which transformed the country into
a global paragon for quality. 

_“The lesson from the most successful economies is that standards are not just technical
rules—they are the foundation for innovation and global competitiveness,”_ said **
Xavier ****Giné****, Director of the 2025 World Development Report. “**_Countries
that treat standards as part of their development strategy—rather than as an afterthought—
are the ones that have managed to climb the ladder of prosperity.”_