International trade is one of the driving factors of the global economy. In the recent year, global trade hit a snag in 2018 due to tensions between the USA and China. However, it was on its way to recovery when the COVID-19 pandemic started to spread worldwide. 2021 saw global trade recovery due to mass vaccine roll-outs and the easing of lockdown restrictions.

China was the biggest exporter in the world in 2021 with exports worth $3.36 trillion by the end of the year. It was followed by the United States with exports worth $1.75 trillion and Germany came a close third after recording exports of over $1.6 trillion. In 2020, China accounted for 14.7% of global commodity imports and 5.7% of global services exports. 

In 2022, Bahrain is the world’s biggest importer with imports worth $1.33 trillion accounting for 57.3% of the global imports in October alone.

It is followed by China with imports worth over $215 billion and then the USA with $191.278 billion worth of imports.

In 2021, the United States was the biggest commodity importer in the world with imports worth $3.39 trillion. The top five countries including the USA, China, Germany, France, and Japan accounted for 40.73% of the global imports.

In the first nine months of 2022, the global oil and gas industry has been the biggest exporter in the world, followed by the healthcare and automotive industries.

Source: Newspaper Yahoo finance