The pandemic crisis has disrupted the normal course of international trade. However, there are countries that have benefited from this situation. China is at the forefront, which has moved further away from other countries in terms of exports and strengthened its position - its current market share is already 15 percent. Some European Union countries, including Poland, ranked third, did just as well.

China is the biggest winner of the pandemic

In 2020, China's share of world exports increased by 1.6 percentage points. It was related to the appropriate adjustment of domestic production to the growing world demand for certain products. This is primarily about products needed to fight the pandemic, such as masks, disinfectants or electronic and electrical devices.

The situation of Poland in the times of COVID-19

Poland has handled the consequences of the pandemic quite well. Compared to 2019, the value of exports was lower in 2020, but only by 0.3 percent. It is the third best result in the European Union. This was due to, inter alia, the large variety of products offered by the country. In the period from March to May 2020, sales of Polish medicines and pharmaceutical products (by 23 percent), tobacco products (by 14 percent), as well as beverages, food and clothing increased. Poland was also a strong exporter of durable consumer goods. Furniture, household appliances, electronics and electronics were of great importance in this matter.

Exports to Germany increased significantly, accounting for nearly 30 percent of total Polish exports of goods. The country also traded willingly with the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Russia.

Other European Union countries

According to the data of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the total export of goods in the European Union countries fell in 2020 to -5.3 percent. On the other hand, the decline in exports of services was five times stronger. However, each country reacted slightly differently to this situation. Much depended on:

  • the scale of export breakage,
  • the duration of the lockdown,
  • the reaction of the commodity structure and the geographical trade exchange,
  • the speed and intensity of export recovery.

The impact of the pandemic on trade largely depended on the introduced restrictions, which is why there were significant differences in this field. The tightening of restrictions and their subsequent easing resulted in constant changes in exports in the world economy. When greater restrictions were introduced, there were temporary downtimes in the work of enterprises, and then foreign trade did not prosper very well. Along with the easing of restrictions, exports were rebuilt.

In countries such as, for example, Ireland, Slovakia and Greece, the positive dynamics of exports to countries inside the EU was maintained, but negative to countries outside the EU. In turn, other countries, such as Germany, Denmark and Hungary, opted for the export of goods to external countries.

In 2020, the largest drops in exports in the European Union countries concerned fuel, means of transport and capital goods. The smaller ones were definitely related to food and consumer goods.