---
title: "Global Trade"
description: "Why countries trade with each other; imports and exports; how goods travel around the world; that different countries use different currencies"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/global-trade-mt_0Rx1ISxXFE
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/global-trade-mt_0Rx1ISxXFE.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Global Trade

Why countries trade with each other; imports and exports; how goods travel around the world; that different countries use different currencies

Subject: Life Skills · Area: Money & Finance · Ages 9 to 11
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/global-trade-mt_0Rx1ISxXFE

## Ready when they can

- Explain why countries buy goods from other countries (they can't make everything themselves)
- Give examples of imported and exported products from their own country
- Explain that different countries use different currencies and you need to exchange money when travelling

## Lesson: Why Countries Trade

No country can make everything it needs. One place might have rich farmland, another has factories, another has minerals in the ground. So countries sell each other what they have extra of, and buy what they're missing.

*(drawing: Exports are goods a country sends out and sells. Imports are goods it buys and brings in.)*

**Example.** Bananas grow well in warm places like Ecuador, but not in cold places like Canada. So Ecuador exports its bananas to other countries, and Canada imports bananas because it can't grow its own.

**Tip.** When you travel to another country, your money might not work there. Each country has its own currency, so you exchange your money for theirs at a bank or currency exchange before you spend it.

**Recap.** Countries trade because no one has everything, and they use different money to do it.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Fair Trade & Ethics](https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/fair-trade-and-ethics-mt_HPf-dVtA3p)
- [How the Economy Works](https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/how-the-economy-works-mt_udgPy5oAvR)

## Opens up

- [Trade Policy and Barriers](https://lightmysky.com/learn/civics-and-economics/trade-policy-and-barriers-mt_l_l6qXfRle)
- [Supply chains](https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/supply-chains-mt_tqgZH11cP5)