Global trade falls to lowest since 2009, trade group says

Global trade in the first six months of the year dropped to the lowest level since the 2009 global financial crisis. According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on Monday, the amount of global trade among 67 major countries plummeted by 11.9 percent in the first half of 2015, compared to the same period last year. The main reason for the shrinkage was due to the drop in price.

When it came to the sheer trade volume of traded products, the first half’s trade grew at about 2 to 3 percent year-on-year, a similar rate over the past three years. Korea showed relatively little trade shrinkage in export growth in the first half, but KITA said it will be difficult for the country to reach $1 trillion in trade this year due to massive shrinkage in both exports and imports expected for the latter half.