Imports of petroleum derivatives, a proxy of economic activity and one of the constituents of the coincident indicator, fell by 41.43% month-on-month to 262,113 metric tons in April 2026, compared to 447,493 metric tons in March. On a cumulative basis, the imports of petroleum derivatives dropped by 19.14% during the first four months of 2026 to 1.83 million tons compared to 2.27 million tons in the same period in 2025. The drop observed in 2026 may be partly attributed to the war in the region starting end of February 2026 that resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz which constrained the import of petroleum derivatives. The five-year trend depicted by the chart below shows a downward trajectory in the import of petroleum derivatives with a negative compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.61% over the April 2021 – April 2026 period.