As Figure 7 shows, average applied tariff
rates in SSA remain comparatively high.
Whereas average applied tariffs in high-income
OECD countries fell from 23.7 percent to 3.9
percent between 1983 and 2003 (a reduction of
84 percent), average applied tariffs in SSA fell
only from 22.1 percent to 17.7 percent (a reduction
of 20 percent). Though average applied
tariffs in South Asia remain as high as average
applied tariffs in SSA, South Asia reduced its
average applied tariffs from 60.1 percent to
18.2 percent between 1983 and 2003 (a reduction
of 70 percent).48 The economic growth
experienced by South Asia, India in particular,
over the past decade and a half can partly be
attributed to the upsurge of productivity that
was a result of trade liberalization.49