The Secretariat of the World Trade Organization expected in a report that the war in Ukraine may lead to a decline in the expected growth in world trade by about half during 2022.
According to Arabiya Net, the study expects the crisis to lead to a decline in global GDP growth to a level between 3.1 and 3.7% this year, while global trade growth is expected to stabilize between 2.4 and 3%.
The people of Ukraine are feeling most of the suffering and devastation, but the costs of reduced trade and production are likely to be felt by people around the world with higher food and energy prices and lower availability of goods exported by Russia and Ukraine, the WTO Secretariat said.< /p>
Since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, tons of grain have remained in Ukrainian ports, such as the port of Mariupol, which is being bombed and besieged by the Russian army because of its strategic location.
The poorest countries are at greater risk from war, the report adds, as they tend to spend a larger portion of their income on food than the richer countries.
The organization pointed out the potential effects on political stability in some countries.
Although the shares of Russia and Ukraine in total world production and trade are relatively small, both countries are important suppliers of basic commodities, most notably food and energy products.
According to the World Trade Organization, the two countries exported in 2019 about 25% of the world's wheat, 15% of barley, and 45% of sunflowers.
Russia alone represents 9.4% of the global fuel trade, and it rises to 20% for natural gas.
