Great Recession: annual value of global exports of merchandise from 2007 to 2011

The Great Recession of 2008-2009 caused a dramatic drop in the volume of world trade, after two decades of nearly unbroken growth in export growth across the globe. The Global Financial Crisis, which began in the United States in the Summer of 2007, but quickly spread to other regions, caused international flows of money to freeze. This lack of international financing in the global economy led to a drop in aggregate demand, as well as causing many goods exporters to be unable to finance short-term expenditures on credit. World merchandise exports collapsed in 2009, falling by around one-fifth. This fall was made up quickly in the recovery, however, as exports already surpassed their 2008 levels by 2011.

2008-2009年的全球金融危机导致世界贸易量急剧下滑，这一下滑发生在全球出口增长连续近二十年近乎不间断的繁荣之后。始于2007年夏季的美国全球金融危机迅速蔓延至其他地区，导致国际资金流动陷入停滞。这种全球经济中国际融资的缺失，不仅导致了总需求的下降，还使得许多商品出口商无法通过信贷来筹集短期支出。2009年，世界商品出口量暴跌，降幅约为五分之一。然而，在复苏过程中，这一降幅迅速得到弥补，到2011年，出口量已超过2008年的水平。