What can be said about trade in the Hellenistic period is that, in general, it developed. Even though in certain states there were not only periods of development but also of decline in some branches, its branches, if we examine it as a whole, trade shows an intense activity.

According to scholars, trade during that period can be divided into domestic and international. The former was carried out in the kingdoms and the states which belonged to the Hellenistic "system", -irrespective of whether it was domestic trade or trade among regions of the same kingdom or between different states. The latter was conducted between the Hellenistic world and states beyond its limits, such as India, Parthia, the southern Arabic states, Italy, the countries of the Illyrians, the Thracians, the Celts, the Sarmatae and the Scythians.
Also, trade can be characterized, depending on its character, its organization and the way it was conducted, as land, sea or river trade.

The most important was sea trade, which was being conducted in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. However, it was impeded by the lack of progress in ship-navigation. Although it played a decisive role in the economies of the Hellenistic states, the only useful achievement of that period in relation to trade seems to be the use of the triangular sail. This was supported on a long beam forming an angle of 45 degrees with the central sail, a fact that enabled better sailing in adverse weather conditions.
However, the occupation of sea merchants hid great dangers and anxieties, since, apart from pirates and wars among kingdoms, they had to deal with the elements of nature and ignorance. It is very likely that most of the ships were lost in strong storms, or due to difficulties in ship-navigation and lack of maps, rather than to pirate attacks.
Land trade on the contrary did not develop much and the most interesting trade route was the one followed by caravans from Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia and the stretches of Persia.
As far as river trade is concerned, it was restricted and had an exclusively local character. The most important river was the Nile, since it constituted the main route of Egypt's domestic trade, but it was also used for transporting goods from India, Arabia and East Africa towards the Mediterranean. The Euphrates played a corresponding role in trade, but to a lesser extent.