Overview of developments in the international trading environment

The report notes that COVID-19 related trade-facilitating measures implemented since the beginning of the pandemic covered an estimated US$227 billion of goods trade, while COVID-19 trade-restrictive measures covered trade worth US$180 billion.

Over 1,000 support measures in direct response to the pandemic were put in place up to mid-October and were collectively worth several trillion US dollars. The report indicates that the number and variety of support measures implemented in response to the economic and social turmoil caused by COVID-19 is greater than that witnessed during the 2008-09 global financial crisis. WTO Secretariat estimates indicate that by the end of 2019 the cumulative trade coverage of import restrictions on goods implemented by WTO members and observers since 2009 and still in force affected 8.7 per cent of world imports (US$1.6 trillion out of a total US$18.9 trillion). WTO estimates for 2020 suggest that the stockpile of import restrictions continues to grow and that the roll-back of restrictions is minimal.

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