WASHINGTON: The Organisation for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD) announced Tuesday that global trade had slowed down significantly in 2015, as exports fell by 11.3 percent and imports fell by 13 percent overall.
According to the organization, declines in both imports and exports were recorded in all G20 economies in 2015. Saudi Arabia recorded the largest fall in exports over the period while Russia recorded the largest fall in imports. In both cases, fall values were over 35 percent. OECD said G20 total international merchandise continued to contract in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2015. During the period, exports fell by 1.6 percent for the sixth consecutive quarter while imports fell by 1.9 percent for the seventh consecutive quarter.
Among G20 economies, only China and Turkey’s exports had experienced growth during the fourth quarter, up by 0.3 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, OECD said, adding that imports also grew in both countries, by a respective 1.0 and 4.3 percent.
In the same quarter, export values of large oil exporters including Canada, Russia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia fell significantly, reflecting falling oil prices and an appreciating U.S. dollar, according to OECD. During the same period, import values of South Africa and Brazil continued to contract by 6.2 percent and 9.2 percent respectively to close to their lowest levels in six years, while imports also fell significantly in India, down by 8.1 percent, and in the United States by 2.7 percent, a fall for the sixth straight quarter.
In the Q4 of last year, EU exports and imports fell for a sixth consecutive quarter, by 1.0 percent and 1.4 percent respectively, with exports falling in France (0.3 percent), Germany (2.3 percent) and the United Kingdom (1.4 percent) while they remained unchanged in Italy. Imports picked up, however, in France and the United Kingdom by 0.9 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.
