The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published this week its “2020 Handbook of Statistics” report in which it provided a list of indicators pertaining to international trade, investment, and development across the globe. According to the report, international trade showed has declined in 2019 following two consecutive years of increase, with the world’s merchandise exports contracting to just over $18.93 trillion in 2019, from around $19.45 trillion a year earlier, with merchandise imports also dropping to $19.26 trillion, from $19.79 trillion in 2018. This pattern was witnessed among developed and developing economies, whereas in transition economies, merchandise imports grew from just below $492 billion in 2018 to just above $514 billion in 2019. On the regional front, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) topped the list of West Asian countries in terms of merchandise exports for yet another consecutive year, with the value of its exports reaching $315.92 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia ($261.60 billion) and Turkey ($180.83 billion), only to name a few. The UAE also came in first in the region in terms of merchandise imports, with its imports bill aggregating to $267.94 billion in 2019, followed by Turkey ($210.35 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($153.16 billion), among others. Locally, the UNCTAD statistical handbook revealed that Lebanon’s merchandise exports rose to $4.83 billion in 2019, from $3.83 billion in the previous year, while merchandise imports fell to $19.64 billion, down from $20.40 billion in 2018. Lebanon ranked as such 10^th in the West Asia region in merchandise exports in 2019, unchanged from the previous year while losing 1 position in merchandise imports to rank 8 among its West Asian peers.

From another standpoint, the UNCTAD estimated Lebanon’s nominal GDP per capita at $8,145 in 2019 and its real economic growth at -3.9% in the year 2019. In addition, the report indicated that FDI inflows to Lebanon fell to $2.13 billion in 2019, down from $2.88 billion in 2018, with the country’s current account balance registering a deficit of $11.54 billion compared to a larger deficit of $15.24 billion in the previous year, as outlined in the table below: