World trade in goods rebounded to above pre-pandemic level, set new records in 2021: DHL report
Foreign direct investment flows shrunk even more than trade in 2020, but they are on track for a full recovery in 2021
London
DHL released its latest Global Connectedness Index (GCI) report on Tuesday (Nov 30), with this year's index discussing the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on globalisation by analysing international flows of trade, capital, information and Internet use, and people.
After steeply plummeting in April and May last year, trade in goods has rebounded to above its pre-pandemic level and has set new records in 2021, the report said.
Foreign direct investment flows shrunk even more than trade in 2020, but they are on track for a full recovery in 2021.
International data flows surged in 2020 as almost all in-person interactions went online due to the pandemic, but this did not break a longer-term slowdown in the globalisation of information flow.
The international flow of people sank and international travel fell by 73 per cent in 2020.
Prior to the uncertainty around the new Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus, there were "glimmers of a recovery starting in mid-2021", the report said. Despite the arrival of Omicron, however, globalisation will continue to remain at a high level, DHL executives said at the briefing.
"The robust global trade flows and economic recovery continue to create growth opportunities in the Asia-Pacific, with Asia's merchandise exports and imports expected to grow to 14.7 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively above its 2019 level in 2021," said Steve Altman, senior research scholar and director of the DHL Initiative on Globalization at the New York University's Stern School of Business.
This year's GCI shows that globalisation has been "much more resilient" throughout the Covid-19 crisis than many had predicted, he added.
World trade in goods has soared to above pre-pandemic levels and most other international flows are also rebounding strongly, he said, although he noted that developed countries have fared better than emerging nations.
"The resilience of global flows is good news, because a connected world offers the best prospects for a strong and sustainable recovery from the pandemic," said Altman.
"When a crisis strikes, many of us naturally feel a strong impulse to hunker down behind borders. But the more extreme the challenge, the more urgent it becomes to draw upon the best ideas and resources from at home and abroad."
John Pearson, chief executive officer of DHL Express, said in a statement accompanying the release of the GCI: "Many feared that the global crisis would jeopardise the progress of globalisation. We have been analysing the various international flows worldwide for years and after 1.5 years of the pandemic, we can now safely assure: the pandemic has not caused globalisation to collapse."
