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Ammon News - Jordan's trade deficit in 2020 narrowed down by 16.5 percent, compared with last year, according to a report on foreign trade released Tuesday by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply.

The report indicated a slight increase in national exports in 2020, compared with 2019, highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 crises on the Jordanian economy.

National exports, the report added, picked up by 12.1 percent in December, 2020, compared with the same month of 2019, a positive indicator for further recovery over the next few months.

The report showed that in December, national exports to the United States, Saudi Arabia, India, the UAE and Algeria picked up driven by higher volumes of exports of several goods and products, including fertilizers, which jumped 334.2 percent, followed by livestock 152.5 percent, aluminum 50 percent and soap and copper 59.5 percent.

The report pointed out that at the level of the commodity structure of Jordanian exports in 2020, garments still top the list of products of relative importance to exports. However, the sector tumbled by 16.2 percent.

The pandemic allowed the development of local industry and the diversification of exports, as the value of national exports of jewelry increased 152.2 percent, while fertilizer exports went up 1.15 percent, compared to 2019. It also had a major effect on transit trade with the value of re-exports decreasing by 34.6 percent in 2020, compared to 2019.

Forecasts for the first quarter of 2021 note a slow-paced recovery of commodity trade by 1.5 percent, and a 7-percent drop compared to the last quarter of 2020 due to travel disruptions.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that the economic and social disruptions caused by the pandemic have greatly affected global trade during last year. The value of global trade went down by 9 percent, goods trade decreased by 6 percent, while the services trade dropped by 16.5 percent, it added.