Merchandise export volumes of the Group of Seven countries fell 0.2% in the third quarter of 2008 compared with the previous quarter, while import volumes rose 0.4%. On a year-on-year basis, import volumes fell 1.4% in the third quarter, the first decline since the third quarter of 2006. Exports rose 1.9%, their lowest growth rate since the third quarter of 2006.
While Germany’s exports fell by a marked 2.9% quarter-on-quarter, import volume growth picked up by 3.4%, the highest rate of the G7. On a year-on-year basis, exports stagnated at 0.5% and imports grew by 3.5%.
In the United States, export volume growth, at 1.8%, remained positive in the third quarter, while imports declined by 0.7%.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, export growth in the US, at 8.3%, continued to be the highest of the G7, while import volumes continued to decline, falling 3.6%.
Falls continued in Japan where exports were down 1.3% and imports 1.0% lower in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter. Compared with the same quarter of 2007, merchandise exports stagnated at 0.2%, the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2006, while imports continued to decline, falling 1.3%.
Values of Trade in Goods and Services
In the third quarter of 2008, the value of exports and imports of goods and services in OECD countries, measured in current US dollars, fell by a seasonally-adjusted 1.6% and 0.2% respectively compared with the previous quarter. These were the first declines since the third quarter of 2006.
On a year-on-year basis, the growth in the value of exports of goods and services in OECD countries slowed sharply to 15.6%, while import value growth fell to 17%.
