Global trade turmoil is helping torpedo economic growth in most major economies, a new report from Fitch Ratings suggests.
The rating agency states that annual GDP growth rates have been declining since mid-2018 across almost all of the world’s 20 large economies, including both developed and emerging-market economies.
This broad decline in growth rates “underscores the drag on activity from the sharp global downturn in trade and manufacturing,” the report states. The decline has been partially offset by healthy labour markets and resilient consumer-spending trends.
The synchronized global slowdown highlights the “powerful linkages between economies through trade,” Fitch says.
“Weak domestic demand in China — evidenced more recently by a slowdown in housing starts — along with trade policy disruptions and related uncertainties are having widespread ramifications for the global economy,” said Pawel Borowski, analyst with Fitch.