International trade has three important aspects as follows: 

(i) Volume of Trade: The actual tonnage of goods traded makes up the volume, however services traded can not be measured in tonnage. So, the total value of goods and services traded is considered to be the volume of trade. 

(ii) Composition of Trade: It refers to the items of which trade consists of. The nature of goods and services imported and exported by countries have undergone changes during the last century. Trade of primary products was dominant in the beginning of the last century. 

(iii) Direction of Trade: It refers to the countries with which a country has trade relations. Like India’s majority of trade was with U.K. during colonial rule. The developing countries of the present used to export valuable goods and artefacts etc. which were exported to European countries. European countries started exporting manufactured goods in exchange of food stuffs and raw materials from their colonies. Europe, USA and Japan emerged as major trade blocs in the world and leader in the trade of manufactured goods.