Global trade drops 5% in September quarter

Global trade recorded a 5% drop in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the same period last year. Niti Kiran, Mohsin Shaikh

Global trade continued to decline in Q3 of 2020 by about 4.5 per cent year-on-year  

There was a universal downtrend in Q3, except for some East Asian economies like China & Vietnam

This comes after a much sharper plunge of 19 per cent, year-on-year, in the second quarter of 2020  

The frail recovery is expected to continue in the fourth quarter, with a preliminary forecast of 3 per cent decline compared to the corresponding quarter of 2019.

Depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic evolves in the winter months, the value of global trade is expected to contract by 7-9 per cent with respect to 2019.