A problem for developing countries has been their dependence on the
export of a limited range of primary commodities whose prices are liable to
severe fluctuations. In 1991 only South and East Asia exported more manu-
factured goods than primary commodities. However, manufactured exports
from the Third World have been growing, from 16 per cent in 1965 to 66 per
cent in 1999. The value of manufactured goods in total exports varies from
one region of the Third World to another – compare East Asia where the
proportion is 81 per cent, to Sub-Saharan Africa where it is 39 per cent. But
manufactured exports are becoming increasingly important throughout the
Third World. The export of primary commodities declined as a percentage
of merchandise exports from 38 per cent in 1990 to 24 per cent in 1999.
Nevertheless, the Third World still accounts for only a quarter of the world’s
exports (World Bank, 2001, tables 1.4 and 4.5).
The growth in Third World exports has been achieved despite the protec-
tionism practised by the Western industrial countries which are the markets
for the bulk of Third World exports. In the 1980s quotas and other measures
are estimated to have cost developing countries a loss of export earnings
nearly equivalent to the value of official aid (World Bank, 1991, pp. 105–6).
The growing globalization of international economic relations has cer-
tainly not shifted economic power towards poor countries. Most interna-
tional trade is still between a small number of rich developed countries.
Trade liberalization benefits these rather than poor countries. Foreign direct
investment increased by nearly six times between 1985 and 1995, but
although developing countries had an increased share of this, two thirds of
this share was accounted for by just 10 countries, with the poorest countries
receiving less than 1 per cent.
Human development
Despite progress in human development over the past 30 years, measured by
life expectancy, educational attainment and the purchasing power of incomes,
there are still substantial contrasts between the developed and developing
worlds, as well as between groups of poorer countries (see Table 1.3).
Human development has been uneven across the Third World. Trends reflect
overall economic performance. Progress was made between 1965 and 1985,
with per capita consumption increasing by nearly 70 per cent in real terms,
average life expectancy rising from 51 to 62 years, and primary school enrol-
ment rates reaching 84 per cent. Progress in child mortality rates and primary
school enrolments continued in the 1980s in most developing countries.
The Idea of a ‘Third World’ 5