(Bloomberg) -- Global trade took its biggest hit in more than a decade in March, when the spread of the coronavirus began to take an increasingly heavy toll on businesses.
World trade volumes fell 4.3% from a year earlier, the most since 2009, according to the World Trade Monitor. On the month, they fell 1.4% for a third straight decline. The slump is only an initial sign of the damage from the lockdowns to contain the disease, and surveys have since shown a deep recession is underway.
The CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, which publishes the trade monitor, said partial figures for April show a “mostly negative picture,” and leading indicators point to a stronger decline in global trade in the coming months.
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