All North American G20 economies saw international merchandise trade contract in the fourth quarter of 2019. Worst affected was Mexico, where exports fell by 3.4% and imports by 3.2%. Canada recorded falls of 1.6% and 1.8% respectively and the United States saw falls of 0.6% and 3.2%.

Major European G20 economies fared a little better, with exports up in France (by 1.1%), Italy (1.0%) and, marginally, Germany (0.2%). Imports fell in France and Italy (by 0.8% and 2.3% respectively) but picked up, again marginally, in Germany (by 0.2% - though German international trade remains around 6% below recent highs). In the United Kingdom, on the back of a strong appreciation in Sterling against the US dollar in the fourth quarter, exports and imports both picked up, by 2.4% and 1.1% respectively, but were down on the previous quarter when measured in Sterling.

In Asia, the on-going Japan-Korea trade dispute continued to weigh down on international trade, with exports and imports falling significantly in both countries: in Japan (by 3.4% and 3.6% respectively) and in Korea (by 2.6% and 2.4%). Over the last two years, Korea has seen its exports contract by 12.3% and its imports by 8.0%.

In China, both exports and imports increased by 0.4% and 2.8% respectively. In India, exports grew by 2.8% while imports fell by 4.4%. In Indonesia, exports were unchanged while imports grew by 2.6%.

In South America, Argentina's exports grew by 6.2%, however imports contracted strongly by 9.9%. Imports also contracted significantly in Brazil, by 8.1% (partly unwinding the 11.0% growth seen in the previous quarter), and exports also fell (by 1.5%).