The number of new trade restrictive measures imposed by G-20 economies over the past six months increased as trade flows slowed down , said a latest trade monitoring report released by World Trade Organization (WTO) on Wednesday.

According to this tenth monitoring report on G-20 trade measures from mid-May to mid-November 2013, since mid-May, a total of 116 new trade restrictive measures have been identified, up from 109 measures recorded in the last report on G-20 trade measures from mid-October 2012 to mid-May 2013 which was released in June.

The report said that these measures, affecting some 1.1 percent of G-20 merchandise imports which was equal to 0.9 percent of world merchandise imports, were mainly new trade remedy actions, in particular the initiation of anti-dumping investigations, tariff increases and more stringent customs procedures.

WTO also concluded in the report that fewer trade facilitating measures, mainly in the format of termination of trade remedy actions and tariff reductions, were taken by G-20 members than in the seven-month period covered by the last report, with some 33 percent of the total recorded measures considered as trade facilitating, compared with 40 percent in the previous reviewed period.

The report said that trade growth this year is expected to register only a slight increase over 2012 amid a slow and uneven global economic growth. The volume of world merchandise trade was expected to grow by 2.5 percent in 2013 and 4.5 percent in 2014.

The global trade watchdog urged that as the best defence against protectionism and the strongest force for economic growth, sustainable recovery and development, the multilateral trading system must be reinforced and strengthened to help global trade liberalization continue.