Global trade has sunk to its lowest level in six years due to low growth around the world and falling raw materials prices.

Recent data from the World Trade Organization(WTO) shows the trade volume of 71 major economies in the first eight months of this year came to 19-point-three trillion U.S. dollars, down four-point-six percent year-on-year.

After peaking in 2014, trade in the January-August period has posted straight declines, with last year's figure marking a near 12-percent drop.

The top five export nations ranked the same as last year. China was the largest exporter with one-point-three trillion dollars during the cited period, followed by the United States, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands. 

South Korea dropped two notches to eighth with 322 billion dollars.