In this Sept 21, 2018 photo, a man leaves the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquaters in Geneva. (PHOTO / AFP)

GENEVA - Global tensions have started to fragment trade as rival trading relationships form, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Tuesday, but argued it is premature to declare that globalization has gone into reverse.

The Geneva-based body said it had observed a sharp rise in unilateral trade restrictions and a growing view that cooperation with a more limited group of friendly counties and "de-risking" was the right course.

Overall trade had continued to grow and the WTO said the worst predictions of supply shortages and sharply higher food prices had not materialized

Since Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, trade between two blocs of countries with different United Nations voting patterns has grown by between 4 percent and 6 percent slower than trade within these blocs.

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The WTO report said the divergence, which excludes figures for Russia and Ukraine, had been similar for foreign direct investment.

Trade concerns raised at WTO committees, seen as early warning indicators, have spiked as unilateral trade restrictions have grown.

However, overall trade had continued to grow and the WTO said the worst predictions of supply shortages and sharply higher food prices had not materialized.

The report points to the rapid expansion of trade in digital services and environmental goods, but said a further increase in unilateral measures could yet fragment the world economy.

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It argues a renewed drive towards integration - "re-globalisation" - is the way to tackle current problems of security, poverty and climate change.