The services trade is going through a slump. The reason: the coronavirus. World Trade Organization (WTO) The European Commission has published an update of its biannual barometer on Wednesday (11.03.2020), in which it notes that the spread of this disease is already taking its toll on services globally, especially air travel and maritime transport of goods.
The WTO indicator shows that the trend has fallen to 96,8 points, compared to 98,4 six months earlier. Any value below 100 indicates a decrease in activity. Specifically, a similar figure has not been seen since mid-2016. Even so, there is still a decrease in activity. 2,8% year-on-year growth despite a slowdown in the trend.
The institution measures several services in this index. This update thus shows Two specific sectors that are suffering more than they should. It's about the air travel (93,5 points) and sea transport (94,3). And it is expected that the indicator will be reduced even further since The full consequences of the coronavirus have not yet been fully understood and what is to come.
The WTO also announced yesterday that it will suspend all its activities and meetings from today, March 11, until March 20, due to an employee of the organization becoming infected. Next week they will assess the situation again to see if they can restore normality at their headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland).
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