G20 total international merchandise trade continues to fall in third quarter of 2015
G20 total international merchandise trade, seasonally adjusted and expressed in current US dollars, continued to contract in the third quarter of 2015, albeit at a slower pace than in previous quarters. Exports fell for the fifth straight quarter (by 0.9 % compared to 1.3 %, and 7.3% in the previous two quarters) while imports fell for the sixth straight quarter (by 0.8 %, compared to 1.1 % and 8.5 % in the previous two quarters)
The United States recorded a decline in both exports (by 1.0%) and imports, although the fall in imports was marginal. In other NAFTA economies, exports picked up in Canada (by 0.8 %) while imports contracted (by 3.7 %), whereas in Mexico both imports and exports grew (by 0.9 %).
Exports also grew (by 1.3 %) in China, for the first time in a year, but imports continued their recent downward trend, falling (by 1.2 %) to the lowest levels since early 2011. In other parts of Asia, exports continued to trend downwards although only marginally in Japan (by 0.5 %) and at a higher pace in Korea (by 1.6 %). In Indonesia imports and exports fell by more than 7%, while exports also fell significantly in India (by 3.9 %).
Exports and imports by the European Union (EU28) fell for a fifth consecutive quarter, although only marginally (by 0.4 % and 0.3 % respectively). Exports fell strongly however in the United Kingdom (by 5.0 %), offsetting the strong gains made in the previous quarter, while in Germany exports and imports grew for the first time since the second quarter of 2014.