AFP :
International trade in goods dropped by around 5 percent in the first quarter of 2020 and is set to further shrink by 27 percent in the ongoing second quarter.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) forecasts a 20 percent annual decline for this year.
In its latest edition of the Global Trade Update published on Thursday, the UNCTAD presented an updated overview of global trade and the unprecedented effects of the pandemic on trade flows.
Pamela Coke-Hamilton, director of international trade for UNCTAD, said, “There is still a lot of uncertainty about the possibility of any economic recovery in the second half of the year. International trade is likely to remain below the levels observed in 2019.”
Developing countries experienced faster fall in trade than the developed ones, especially in terms of import.
In the first quarter of this year, import in developed countries declined by a big margin, resultingin the export from developing countries to also decline significantly.
“For developing countries, while decline in exports were likely driven by reduced demand in destination markets, a decline in imports may indicate not only reduced demand but also exchange rate movements, concerns regarding debt and shortage of foreign currency,” the report reads.
Only East Asia and the Pacific region showed a positive trend in both export and import. Import fell the highest 40 percent in South Asia and the Middle East in April 2020.
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, demand for medical goods and equipment such as ventilators, monitors, thermometers, hand sanitisers, protective masks and garments continued to rise. As a result, export and import of those products boomed in 2020.
Data show that China’s export of medical equipment increased 338 percent while import in US import increased 59 percent in April 2020 compared to the same month last year.
Due to the economic disruptions wrought by Covid-19, the preliminary data for April 2020 also showed a very sharp contraction in the trade of automotive and energy products -negative 50 percent and negative 40 percent in values, respectively.
