The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that Kuwait in terms of export performance was the best country in the world and the least vulnerable to fluctuations and negative influences that impede this performance in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Kuwait’s balance on the export performance index was 1.00 points, which is one of the strong numbers that reflect the good performance of the country’s exports.
The performance of exports is a composite indicator that includes the growth rates and performance of a country against its peers and the competitiveness of this country in major and dynamic markets — the higher the balance, the better the performance of exports.
The Export Volatility Index tracks the performance of exports over the past six months to identify patterns of volatility, and a higher balance indicates weaker exports.
The level of export fluctuations in 2021 in Kuwait was only 0.28 points, which is a low level globally, which indicates the coherence of the performance of exports in the country in the face of fluctuations caused by the repercussions of the pandemic.
In terms of global trade performance in general, its growth remained strong during 2021, as the value of growth continued to increase during each quarter of 2021.
The growth of trade was not limited to goods only, as trade in services grew significantly until 2021, to finally reach pre-pandemic levels during the fourth quarter of 2021.
In general, the value of global trade reached a record level of about $28.5 trillion in 2021, an increase of about 25 percent compared to 2020, and an increase of about 13 percent compared to the pre-pandemic level of 2019, while the growth of global trade mostly stabilized. During the first half of 2021, growth continued in the second half of the same year.
After a relatively slow third quarter, trade growth picked up again in the fourth quarter of 2021, when the value of global trade increased by about 3 percent compared to the third quarter.
The report stated that trade in goods and services followed similar patterns during 2021, while it witnessed a stronger rise during the first half of the year. During the fourth quarter of 2021, trade in goods increased by about $200 billion to reach about $5.8 trillion, which is a new record.
During the same period, trade in services increased by about 50 billion to reach about 1.6 trillion, a value slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels. On an annual basis, trade in goods outperformed trade in services, with increases of 27 and 17 percent, respectively.