New COMEXT trade indicators for first four months of 2020.

We are using EU trade data to analyse impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on imports and exports, for the North-Sea Mediterranean region, i.e. Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and the UK. It shows that total trade was down 14.2% up to the end of April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

  • Bilateral trade between the six countries was down 8.3%
  • Trade with other European countries (e.g. Germany, Italy, Spain etc) was down 13%
  • Trade with the rest of the world was down 23.5

In total, trade flows for the six countries were 102 million tonnes lower than for the first four months of 2019, with the biggest reduction in the energy sector (68 million tonnes lower).

Container trade with non-EU countries (reported by Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - not UK ) was 6.8% lower than 2019 for the first five months of 2020. Airtrade was down 19.2%.

Results can be downloaded here

We will update these results regularly.

Note that not all EU Member States report containerised trade consistently, so we will work on a better statistical formulation. The actual volumes are expected to be higher than those indicated. The comparison with the previous year is nevertheless based on consistent definitions.

Always glad to hear any feedback or suggestions for new topics, so please email