How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (2025)

Trade and Investment
How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (1)

The pandemic has had a surprising impact on many exports, including soybeans Image:James Baltz / Unsplash

César A. Hidalgo

ANITI Chair, University of Toulouse; Honorary Professor, University of Manchester; Visiting Professor, Harvard University; Founder & CEO,

Datawheel

  • A new online tool uses customs agencies' data to create visualisations of the trade trajectories of dozens of countries.
  • It enables a detailed understanding of how COVID-19 has affected trade around the world.
  • From beef to bicycles, these charts show the pandemic's impact on exports.

In May 2020, China exported more face masks than any other product. According to China’s customs data, the Asian economy exported more than $14 billion of “not elsewhere classified made up textiles”. This is a few billion more than China’s best monthly exports on its traditionally strongest products: portable computers ($9.9 billion in July 2020) or cellphones ($8.3 billion in July 2020).

Have you read?
  • 3 lessons in logistics for a more resilient global trading system
  • This simple digital solution could streamline global travel and boost trade during COVID - here's how
  • China's imports, exports surge as global economy reopens

The fact that COVID-19 is affecting international trade patterns should not surprise anyone. But understanding exactly how requires looking into fine-grained data. At the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), we collect data from dozens of custom agencies to help facilitate that view. Today, we are releasing a free online tool that allows people to visualize changes in the trade trajectories of dozens of countries and thousands of products.

Let’s begin by looking at total monthly exports for the world’s largest export economies: China, the US and Germany. China experienced a sharp fall in exports during February, but recovered quickly and was back to normal by March. The US and Germany, however, experienced a dip in exports in April, but did not recover as quickly:

How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (2)

We can explore these differences more deeply by comparing the exports of a particular month in 2020 with the same month in 2019. This shows that in July this year, China was up by $40 billion in exports on the same month last year. The same calculation shows the US was still down in July by about $20 billion. This exercise also shows that the decline of US exports in May was comparable to that of China in February (about $50 billion). February is usually the slowest export month for China (it coincides with their New Year), so part of their dip in exports is explained by seasonal variation, which is accounted for in the year-over-year indicator:

Digging deeper into the data shows us that COVID-19 has been bad news for some markets but good news for others. Brazil has seen a bounty in its exports of agricultural products such as frozen beef and soybeans. The former jumped from $464 million a month in April 2020 to $639 million in May. Brazil’s soybean monthly exports grew even more sharply, by more than $1 billion in a year-on-year basis in April 2020:

How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (4)

Other markets, however, haven’t been as lucky. Let’s look at transportation. Car exports were down by billions in Spain, Canada, Japan, and the US. US delivery truck exports also went down by more than $1 billion in April and May, and reached normal levels only in July. US aircraft part exports also declined sharply, by more than $6 billion in May and June. Bicycle exports (mostly from China), however, followed a different pattern, declining sharply in February and March but rebounding with fury during the summer, up more than 50% year-over-year during June and July:

How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (6)

How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (7)

How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (8)

Garment exports also declined sharply in 2020. Both, Chinese apparel exports and footwear exports declined by more than $1 billion during February, April and May, compared to the same months in 2019. Yet, this decline may have been compensated by the stellar performance of a highly related product (“other made up textiles” - aka face masks), which can also be produced by apparel and footwear manufacturers:

How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (9)

Together, these charts show us the power of using online tools to explore recent trends in international trade. By connecting tools like this one directly to international trade sources, we move one step closer to understanding the effects of COVID-19 on the global economy.

To explore more trends, visit oec.world/en/trend-explore

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing on trade facilitation?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Trade and Investment

Related topics:

Trade and InvestmentHealth and Healthcare Systems

Share:
The Big PictureExplore and monitor how Trade and Investment is affecting economies, industries and global issues

How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (11)

Forum Stories newsletter

Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.

More on

Trade and Investment

See all

1:40

The largest port in the US is facing a 35% drop in shipping

More people want to make financial investments than ever before. How do we empower them?

The UK and India just signed a 'historic' free trade deal. Here's what to know

How frugal innovation is helping governments deliver more with less

Why trade facilitation is key to keeping trade flows moving in turbulent times

How will a global trade war shape the future of cyber leadership?

How COVID-19 has affected trade, in 8 charts (2025)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Moshe Kshlerin

Last Updated:

Views: 6046

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (57 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Moshe Kshlerin

Birthday: 1994-01-25

Address: Suite 609 315 Lupita Unions, Ronnieburgh, MI 62697

Phone: +2424755286529

Job: District Education Designer

Hobby: Yoga, Gunsmithing, Singing, 3D printing, Nordic skating, Soapmaking, Juggling

Introduction: My name is Moshe Kshlerin, I am a gleaming, attractive, outstanding, pleasant, delightful, outstanding, famous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.