16/06/2010

New Commission analysis looks at the impact of recession on agriculture trade 

The global economic and financial crisis that emerged in 2008 had a dramatic impact on world trade in goods and services. Although world agricultural trade was relatively less affected, it still fell by 13% in value and 3% in volume in 2009. This was also an exceptional year for EU agricultural trade, as it reversed the growth pattern of the previous years, with a decline both in imports and exports. This is the conclusion of the latest MAP (Monitoring Agri-trade Policy) published by the Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. Although it is impossible to precisely disentangle all the factors contributing to the contraction in trade, there is no doubt that the crisis had a strong impact, although the severe decline in international commodity prices and exchange rate fluctuations also played a role. The MAP is available at http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/publi/map/index_en.htm