Transport, communications and trade: a shrinking world

Transport and communications

• 19th century: railways, the electric telegraph and steamships cut journey and message times.
• 20th century: jet aircraft made long-distance travel fast and cheaper; containerisation (standard steel boxes moved by ship, rail and lorry) slashed loading times and freight costs, making it cheap to make goods far from where they are sold.
• 21st century: mobile phones, the internet, social networking, electronic banking and fibre-optic cables allow instant communication and transactions.

The result is time-space compression: places feel closer because the time and cost of moving goods, people and information have fallen. These technologies are not universal: there is a digital divide between and within countries.

Trade and the global shift

• Free trade: tariffs have been cut through GATT (from 1947, 23 founding members) and the WTO (from 1995). World trade grew about 8% a year on average in the 1950s and 1960s (WTO).
• Economic growth in the developing world created new markets and suppliers.
• The global shift: manufacturing moved from Europe and North America to Asia, where labour costs were lower.
• In 2024 world merchandise trade volume grew 2.9% and commercial services trade was worth US$8.69 trillion (WTO, April 2025).

Skill (9): proportional flow lines and symbols

On a proportional flow map the width of each arrow is proportional to the size of the flow (for example the value of trade between two regions). On a proportional symbol map, circles or bars are scaled to values at each place.

Describe the largest flows, their direction, and contrasts between developed, emerging and developing regions, quoting values from the key.

Worked example

World trade grew about 8% a year on average in the 1950s and 1960s. If this continued for 10 years, by what factor would trade grow?

1. Growth factor per year = 1.08
2. Over 10 years: 1.08 to the power 10

Answer: About 2.16 times, more than doubling.

Check yourself

1. Trade grows at 8% a year for 10 years. By what factor does it increase? Give your answer to 2 decimal places.
   Show answer

   2.16. 1.08 to the power 10 = 2.16.

2. On a proportional flow map, 1 mm of arrow width represents US$50 billion. How wide should the arrow be for a flow of US$325 billion?
   Show answer

   6.5 mm. 325 / 50 = 6.5 mm.

3. How did containerisation encourage globalisation?
   • It made air travel cheaper
   • It greatly reduced the time and cost of loading and shipping goods
   • It replaced the internet
   • It stopped trade between continents
   Show answer

   It greatly reduced the time and cost of loading and shipping goods. Standard containers move easily between ship, rail and road.

4. Time-space compression means that
   • the Earth is getting smaller
   • time zones have been abolished
   • places feel closer because the time and cost of connecting them have fallen
   • transport is slower
   Show answer

   places feel closer because the time and cost of connecting them have fallen. Faster, cheaper flows shrink the world in relative terms.

5. Which describes the digital divide?
   • Unequal access to the internet and mobile technology between and within countries
   • The time difference between countries
   • A border between trade blocs
   • The split between imports and exports
   Show answer

   Unequal access to the internet and mobile technology between and within countries. Not everyone shares in new communications technology.

6. The global shift refers to
   • a change in Earth's orbit
   • migration from cities to rural areas
   • the movement of manufacturing from developed countries to Asia and other emerging economies
   • the end of free trade
   Show answer

   the movement of manufacturing from developed countries to Asia and other emerging economies. Lower labour costs attracted manufacturing.

7. Explain one reason why internet connections are important to TNCs.
   Show answer

   TNCs coordinate production and sales across many countries, so the internet lets them hold online meetings, track orders and supply chains and market products to customers worldwide in real time.. Real-time coordination, tracking and online marketing across countries.

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Sources

• Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Level in Geography specification (Issue 3, September 2025)
• WTO: Understanding the WTO, the GATT years
• WTO press release: Global trade outlook (16 April 2025)
• Pearson principal examiner report, WGE01 Global Challenges, June 2025
• Pearson WGE01 mark scheme, June 2025 (copy hosted by Physics and Maths Tutor)

Last updated 8 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.