Global trade values were slightly down in the first quarter of this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and are set to slump at a rate not seen since the global financial crisis in 2009, according to the latest data published on Wednesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Merchandise trade was down three percent in the first quarter from the final three months of 2019 and by a further 27 percent in the second quarter, UNCTAD said. On an annual basis, these figures were down 3.3 percent and 29.0 percent respectively.

The report, How COVID-19 is changing the world: a statistical perspective, is a product of cooperation between the international statistics community and national statistical offices and systems around the world, coordinated by UNCTAD.

It noted that the drop in global trade is accompanied by marked decreases in commodity prices, which have fallen precipitously since December last year.

Plummeting fuel prices were the main driver of the steep decline, the report said, which plunged 33.2 percent in March, while prices of minerals, ores, metals, food and agricultural raw materials tumbled by less than four percent.

"There were falls of a similar magnitude in 2009 during the global financial crisis, although the decline was not as steep as in 2020. At that time, global trade rebounded just as quickly, in line with global economic recovery," said UNCTAD's chief of statistics Steve MacFeely.

"At this moment, the shape of the recovery is still not clear, it will depend on how fast the economies return to positive growth and their demand for traded goods increases once again," he continued.

UNCTAD said its view of the first quarter had steadily worsened since March 24, when it predicted modest growth of trade in value terms of about one percent.

The organization warned that the duration and overall strength of the current downward trend in commodity prices and global trade remain uncertain.

(With input from Reuters and Xinhua)

(Graphics by Li Jingjie)