International trade declines sharply in crisis year

International trade is closely linked to the global economy, which is why it also took a sharp turn for the worse in 2009. The downturn was particularly noticeable in European and American imports. By contrast, the Asia Pacific region, which makes up more than two-thirds of all international trade, did not suffer as greatly from the financial crisis.

Global trade volumes fell approximately 7%. There have been recent indications that trade could see moderate growth in 2010, however. Asia is expected to remain a global growth engine and continue to play a key role in this growth in the future.

A.05 Trade volumes: compound annual growth rate 2008 –2009
%
Exports/Imports	Africa	Asia Pacific	Europe	Latin America	Middle East	North America
Africa	2.1	3.2	–10.9	–11.5	–4.2	–5.7
Asia Pacific	2.0	–2.1	–12.6	–8.7	–6.2	–14.6
Europe	0.2	–6.5	–10.8	–11.9	–8.9	–11.0
Latin America	2.3	5.1	–10.0	–6.6	–1.8	–12.7
Middle East	3.2	–6.2	–10.9	–11.8	–5.8	–6.6
North America	–8.3	–6.5	–17.6	–11.3	–12.4	–11.9

A.06 Major trade flows: volumes 20091)

Tonnes (millions)