surplus was recorded by the developing countries on their merchandise trade in 1970 (attributable oainly to a low rate of imporE absorption by petroleum-exporting developing countries), net paynents on service account for insurance and freight, property income and other services resulted in a negative balance on current account equal to 30 per cent of the value of Ehe goods imported by developing countries. 309. In contrast to the first Development Decade, the 19706 represented a period of unparalleled instablllty ln the sorld economy. severe fluctuations in economic activity, strong upsurges in prices and interest rates, large--scale financial imbalances in tbe domestic economies of all groups of countries as vrell as in the international econom!', and several exogenoug events interacted to loner draoatically prevlously atEained standards of world economic performance. In nominal teros, worLd trade grew at a rate of @re than 20 per cent a year and, in contrast to previouE decades, the growth in the value of exports by developlng countries exceeded that of other major economic regions, By far, the highest rate of expansion was recorded tn traale among the developing countries, nhich algo proved to be the nost dynamic destination for the exports of both groups of developed eqonomies, market and planned, during the 1970s. Ore annual rate of cjroirth of export volume from the developing countries, horrever, grerd at a much slower rale and masked wide dlfferences in the export trends of different. groups of aleveloping countri.es. Petroleum-exporti ng developlng countries, for example, er(perlenced a several-fold jump in the price of cheir main export, coupled with'little or no sustained increases in the volume of petroleum sold on $orld markets. In
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the economic situation of developing countries in the 1970s, specifically the surplus on merchandise trade, negative balance on current account, and the impact of petroleum exports on the economy. The language used is technical and focused on economic concepts such as trade, prices, and growth rates, suggesting that the text is primarily concerned with economic issues.

**Category**
International trade, Economic development