WTO Expects Global Trade Decline To Reach 18.5% In The Second Quarter.

The world trade organization's updated global trade data and Outlook report released in June 23rd showed that the volume of global merchandise trade fell 3% in the first quarter of this year and is expected to decline by about 18.5% in the second quarter.

The report said that thanks to the rapid response of governments, despite the historic decline in Global trade volume in the second quarter of this year, the overall performance of the whole year is expected to avoid the worst scenario WTO expected.

Azevedo, director general of WTO, said that policies of various countries are crucial to easing the ongoing impact of the new crown on the economy and trade and will continue to play an important role in determining the speed of economic recovery. Only when countries' fiscal, monetary and trade policies are in the same direction will the global economy and trade rebound in 2021.

In a report released in April, WTO predicted that global trade will shrink by 13% to 32% this year. The updated version of the report shows that in the third and fourth quarter of this year, as long as the global trade keeps 2.5% growth rate per Annex, the annual trade performance will achieve the most optimistic expectations.

In terms of the trend of Global trade growth in 2021, the WTO warned that second wave outbreaks, lower economic growth and trade restrictions adopted by various economies would lead to lower trade growth than expected. Data show that global trade growth in 2021 must reach about 20% before it can return to the growth track before the epidemic.