Growth in world trade in goods will slow down markedly to 1.9% this year from 4.6% in 2025 and could decelerate even more if the Middle East war continues to push energy prices higher and disrupt global transport, a World Trade Organization report said on Thursday. Last year a surge in artificial intelligence-related trade and goods front-loading to avoid a slew of U.S. tariffs enabled a better-than-expected growth performance. While global trade remains resilient, buoyed by trade in AI-related products, the growth forecast is under pressure from the expanding U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said.