The volume of goods shipped across the seas will fall by 4.1% this year on an annual basis compared to a year earlier due to the coronacrisis. This is in a UN report published in Geneva on Thursday. The worldwide spread of the coronavirus and the measures to combat it have disrupted the transport of goods. In this context, the world economy is suffering from a decline in supply and demand, as the report on maritime transport pointed out. The fall this year is on top of the fall in growth in 2019, when the volume of maritime trade increased by 0.5% to more than 11 billion tonnes. Un analysts also pointed out that sustained trade tensions and high policy uncertainty undermined the growth of global economic production and trade in goods last year. This was particularly true of the increasing tension between China and the United States. Next year, maritime transport is expected to grow by 4.8% if the recovery of the coronacrisis is noticeable. UNCTAD, which promotes the integration of developing countries into the world economy, also said that the transport industry must do more to deal with future risks and crises. The UN agency proposed setting up special transport channels for medical goods and food to avoid disruption. We also need to invest in emergency storage facilities and better distribution.
