According to the WTO, the global commodity trade increased by 11% last year reaching $24.9 trillion, which is significantly higher than it was before the pandemic ($18.5 trillion in 2019). However, in the physical volume, the shipments increased by only 2.7% against the 9.4% growth in 2021. In the first quarter of 2023, the physical volume of trade in general decreased by 0.3%. This difference in the dynamics is explained by the drastic increase in prices for energy resources, grain, fertilizers, etc.
The main change in the structure of the global trade is the decrease in the share of industrial goods and increase in the supply of raw materials and fuel.
The share of manufactured goods in the total turnover dropped to 63% compared to 69% in 2021, while the share of fuels and mining products rose to 21%, or $5.16 trillion (compared to 17% in 2019). The share of the food in trade remained at 10%.
The sharp rise in the commodity prices last year also affected the dynamics of regional trade. For instance, in the CIS countries, the turnover in physical volumes decreased by 9.2%, while in monetary terms it increased by 1.2%. In other regions, the turnover growth in value terms also exceeded the increase in physical volumes of shipments. The largest gap was in the Middle East, with the 31% increase in monetary terms and 9.6% in physical terms; in North America the trade volume increased by 5.1% with the 16.6% increase in monetary terms; in Europe the growth rate reached 11.8% and 3.8%, respectively.