ECLAC: Latam Goods And Exports To Decrease By 23 Percent

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean forecast on Thursday that the value of goods and exports in America Latina will fall by 23 percent this year as a result of a decline in prices and volumes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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"The decrease in imported volume would reach 18%, so that it would be somewhat greater than that registered in 2009 during the world financial crisis and similar to those observed in 1982, at the beginning of the external debt crisis, and in 1942, due to the scarcity resulting from the Second World War," the ECLAC report explains.

The estimation is preceded by an extraordinary decrease by 17 percent in imports and goods between January and May 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The organization says that taking into account the volume of global trade in goods, Latin America, and the Caribbean is the most affected developing region.

The trends by sector show that between January and May. However, the value of regional exports of mining products and oil and manufactures plummeted by 25.8 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively, agricultural, and livestock exports increased by 0.9 percent.

Particularly the value of Caribbean exports of goods and services is projected to fall by 40 percent in 2020 as the paralysis of tourism has been critical for the region. This sector accounted for 48% of the value of total exports of services in 2019. The organization warns that this deficit will profoundly impact employment.

The organization urged the countries to work together to reverse this trend and emphasizes that regional integration must play a vital role in the crisis-recovery strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean.