The Asia Pacific region plays a central role in driving global trade, according to the DHL Global Connectedness Tracker 2025.
The finding comes as international markets and trade face mounting challenges due to tariff pressures.
DHL and New York University’s Stern School of Business have released an update to the DHL Global Connectedness Tracker, providing a systematic assessment of how international trade and business investment are reacting to the US’s current shifting trade policies.
“Asia Pacific’s performance stands out due to its adaptability and strategic positioning, and the latest data shows how collaboration in the region is deepening even amid global uncertainty,” said DHL Express Asia Pacific CEO, Ken Lee.
“From ASEAN’s rising role in absorbing trade flows to countries in the Asia Pacific region engaging more intensively with their neighbours, businesses in our region are proving agile and forward-looking.
“DHL is well-positioned to support our customers in navigating any shifts in trade patterns, and we will continue to build capabilities where our customers want to be.”
The DHL Global Connectedness Tracker reveals that, in the first half of 2025, international trade grew at a faster rate than in any half-year since 2010, excluding the pandemic rebound.
US imports surged early in 2025 as buyers rushed to frontload purchases ahead of the Trump administration’s tariff hikes.
The 2025 report found that six of the 10 fastest-growing trade routes were exports originating from an Asian economy, underscoring the region’s pivotal role in driving global trade momentum.
Additionally, among the 50 largest trading nations, Hong Kong SAR, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam were among the top 10 markets that saw the fastest trade value growth, indicating the Asia Pacific region’s growing influence and resilience in supply chain networks.
It also found that intra-Asia trade showed signs of continued integration and expanding connections, with East Asia & Pacific’s intra-regional trade share rising from 55 per cent to 56 per cent.
This reflected Asian economies’ pivoting of trade flows toward regional partners to maintain growth, the report said.
Image: DHL.
As an added layer to the US-China relations the report found that, despite a 15 per cent drop in exports to the US in the first eight months of 2025, China offset this decline with a 15 per cent increase in exports to ASEAN region.
It found that ASEAN emerged as a key growth destination for Chinese exports, with Vietnam, Thailand, and India experiencing the largest increases in their share of China’s exports, while the US, Russia, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico experienced declines.
“Trade and international business investment trends so far in 2025 do not support the view that globalisation has gone into reverse,” said Director of the DHL Initiative on Globalization at NYU Stern’s Center for the Future of Management, Prof. Steven A. Altman.
“While it would be a mistake to disregard current policy threats to globalisation, companies are not generally pulling back from international markets, trade is crossing the longest average distance on record, and geopolitical conflicts have reshaped only a small fraction of the world’s international activity.
“The latest data show companies managing the risks and opportunities of a connected world rather than retreating to within countries or regions.”
The DHL Global Connectedness Tracker provides regular updates on globalisation and global trade, complementing the DHL Global Connectedness Report, published regularly since 2011.
Read more about DHL‘s presence in the APAC region.
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