The volume of goods traded around the world rose late last year for the first time in more than six months as US-China trade tensions eased, but the improvement is likely to be shortlived as the spread of coronavirus hits the global economy.
The global goods trade increased by 0.5 per cent in volume terms year-on-year in December according to the CPB world trade monitor compiled by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis — the first expansion since May. Industrial production grew by 0.5 per cent in the same period, up from a contraction of 0.4 per cent in October.
The December trade increase was in “line with the message from our leading trade indicators, which had suggested a modest improvement late last year”, said Adam Slater, an economist at Oxford Economics.