Global Merchandise Trade Volume in Q1 This Year Increases by 14% Year-on-Year

[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The World Trade Organization (WTO) announced on the 27th that the volume of global merchandise trade, including exports and imports, increased by 14% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, based on the US dollar value.

This was due to the global economy recovering with the distribution of vaccines, leading to more active merchandise trading and rising prices of goods, including raw materials.

Merchandise trade based on trade volume also increased by 2.1% compared to the previous quarter and by 4.3% compared to the same period last year.

The Asia region showed the highest growth rate, while there were variations by region.

Based on trade volume, exports increased in Asia (21.0%) and Europe (1.9%) compared to the same period last year, while Central and South America (-0.1%), North America (-2.2%), Africa (-4.6%), the Middle East (-8.4%), and the CIS (-13.9%) decreased. Merchandise imports increased in all regions except Africa (-0.9%) and the Middle East (-2.7%).

Although many countries have recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels, some have not.

Comparing merchandise export values (in US dollars) between January-April 2019, before COVID-19, and January-April this year, Zambia recorded the highest growth rate of 38%, supported by rising raw material export prices.

Following were Ghana (33%), Vietnam (32%), Taiwan (31%), China (31%), Brazil (16%), the European Union (10%), South Korea (9%), Japan (6%), and the United States (1%). The United Kingdom (-3%), Iceland (-6%), Russia (-8%), Israel (-15%), and Iran (-26%) saw declines in exports.

The WTO forecasted that global merchandise trade in the second quarter of this year will show a larger increase due to the COVID-19 recovery trend and the base effect from the worst performance recorded in the second quarter of last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.