Foreign trade in the G20 suffered a sharp decline in the first quarter of the year due to the initial effects of the coronavirus crisis, particularly in China, where strict lockdown measures have been in place since January, and early indications point to worse figures in April.
La Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) The G28.05.2020 said in a statement on Thursday (20) that G4,3 exports fell by 3,9% between January and March, while imports decreased by XNUMX%.
Both fell in a single quarter to the levels they had almost three years ago, in the second quarter of 2017.
ChinaThe world's largest exporter, China, recorded a 9,3% drop to $565.100 billion, while its foreign purchases fell 7% to $492.900 billion.
United States, where the peak of the epidemic came much later, experienced a much more moderate evolution, with declines of 1,9% (to $400.600 billion) and 2,8% (to $590.000 billion) respectively.
Countries that implemented nationwide lockdown measures in March saw sharp declines in both exports and imports. This was the case in France (-7,1% and -7%), India (-9,2% and -2,3%), Italy (-4,9% and -5,6%), and the United Kingdom (-7,8% and -6,5%).
In contrast, international trade in Germany was significantly less negative, with sales and purchases abroad declining by 3,5% (to $356.500 billion) and 2,4% (to $297.200 billion), respectively.
In the set of European Union, the cuts were 3,2% for exports (to $1,3966 trillion) and 3,5% for imports (to $1,3105 trillion).
Brazil The US was the only G20 member country to see both exports (0,9% to $55.900 billion) and imports (2,8% to $44.700 billion) rise in the first quarter. But that came after significant declines in 2019.
En Mexico Shipments abroad also increased between January and March (1% to $114.000 billion), as in South Africa (5,5% to $23.400 billion), South Korea (3,3% to $136.400 billion) and Indonesia (1% to $42.500 billion).
Source: Reuters
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