Global flows in a digital age: How trade, finance, people, and data connect the world economy

The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) examines the inflows and outflows of goods, services, finance, and people, as well as the underlying flows of data and communications that cut across all of them. MGI created a database of these five flows for more than 150 countries between 1980 and 2012. Using this fact base, they assess how the rise of emerging economies and digital technologies is influencing the growth, network structure, and changing dynamics of each of the global flows.