DHL says AI infrastructure drives global trade growth

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AI infrastructure boosts trade

Highlights

AI-enabling goods are projected to drive 42% of goods trade growth in 2025, increasing to 76% in the first quarter of 2026, per DHL.
East Asia and the Pacific lead global trade expansion with a 24% year-on-year increase in value during the first five months of 2026, according to DHL.
East Asia and the Pacific's share of global trade rises to 60% in the first five months of 2026, up from 57% in 2025, reinforcing the region's prominence.

Trade tracker highlights AI-linked goods demand

As reported by BusinessWorld, citing DHL Express in its latest Globalization Tracker, the company says the infrastructure required to build AI systems is becoming a major force in global trade and increasing the importance of logistics networks.

DHL Express Chief Executive Officer John Pearson says AI, rather than tariffs, is currently the biggest story in global trade. He says every AI query depends on logistics because chips, networking equipment and other goods behind the technology must reach the right place at the right time.

Citing the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, DHL says AI-enabling goods account for 42% of goods trade growth in 2025, rising to 76% in the first quarter of 2026. Steven A. Altman, director of the DHL Initiative on Globalization at NYU Stern’s Center for the Future of Management, says the AI trade boom underscores demand for goods and services that are delivered most efficiently when specialized producers work together across countries.

East Asia and Pacific lead regional trade expansion

DHL expects global goods trade to expand by an average of 3.4% per year through 2029. The company says trade remains resilient in East Asia and the Pacific despite headwinds including the Iran war and uncertainty around U.S. tariff policies.

The region posts the strongest trade growth, with value up 24% year on year in the first five months of 2026. Europe follows with 12% trade growth, while Sub-Saharan Africa records 11%.

DHL says East Asia and the Pacific also increase their share of global trade to 60% in the first five months of 2026, from 57% in 2025. The shift points to the region’s central role in supplying and moving the goods needed for AI-related investment.

Our earlier coverage of AMD’s talks with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix highlighted how booming AI infrastructure demand is tightening memory supply and pushing chipmakers to deepen supply-chain partnerships. We noted that AMD was assessing broader cooperation with Samsung on both memory and potential foundry services, while urging suppliers to accelerate output to support rising data-centre workloads.

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