World trade to shrink by between 13 and 32 per cent in 2020

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has predicted that global trade would fall between 13 per cent and 32 per cent this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activities and life around the world.

It declared yesterday that the wide range of possibilities for the anticipated decline had been explained by the unprecedented nature of this health crisis and the uncertainties around its precise economic impact.

WTO economists believe that the decline would likely exceed the trade slump brought on by the global financial crisis of 2008‑2009.

WTO’s Director-General, Roberto Azevedo, in a statement, said the crisis was first and foremost a health crisis, which had forced governments to take unprecedented measures to protect people’s lives.

He added that the unavoidable declines in trade and output would have “painful consequences for households and businesses” besides the huge human sufferings caused by the disease.