No.6
Special Report
COVID-19
6 August 2020
The effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on international trade and logistics A. Global trade has collapsed1 The COVID-19 outbreak occurred in a context of sluggish global trade that has been dragging on since the 2008–2009 financial crisis. While the volume of trade in goods grew at an average rate of 6.2% per year between 1990 and 2007, it expanded by only 2.3% per year between 2012 and 2019 (see figure 1). Likewise, the share of exports of goods and services in global GDP, which reached a historic high of 31% in 2008, has been around 28% since 2015. Figure 1 | Change in the volume of the global trade in goods, 1990–2019 (Percentages) 20
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C. The collapse in tourism is dragging down services exports.......................... 11
F. A more uncertain and regionalized world economy makes further regional integration imperative...........20
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1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Crisis and recovery
Average change
Annual change
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of information from the World Trade Organization (WTO).
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B. The region’s trade in goods plummeted 17% between January and May 2020..........................3
E. Exports and imports of goods set to decline by a quarter in 2020............17
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A. Global trade has collapsed....................1
D. International transport problems hamper regional trade..........................13
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Contents
Unless otherwise indicated, the data used to prepare this report are those available up to 17 July 2020.
Bibliography..............................................21
