Openness to Trade a Key Characteristic of Emerging Markets

In 2012, openness to trade became even more important to emerging markets as they began to look to each other for trade opportunities amidst the global economic slowdown. Measured as the percentage of exports to total GDP, the higher this figure, the more important trade is to that economy. Interestingly, in 2012 the USA was one of the least open economies as was Brazil, which is testament to their strong domestic markets while Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates were two of the most open.