The war in Ukraine not only created a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions but also undermined the world economy, according to the new research by the World Trade Organization reported by European Pravda.
According to the study, this year's crisis should reduce world GDP growth to 3.1% instead of the expected 3.7%.
The consequences for world trade will be much worse - if, at the end of last year, the WTO expected its growth in 2022 at 4.7%, the current forecast is 2.4-3%.
"The brunt of the suffering and destruction are being felt by the people of Ukraine themselves, but the costs in terms of reduced trade and output are likely to be felt by people around the world through higher food and energy prices and reduced availability of goods exported by Russia and Ukraine," the study said. "Poorer countries are at high risk from the war since they tend to spend a larger fraction of their incomes on food compared to richer countries. This could impact political stability."
The WTO notes that although Russia's and Ukraine's shares in total world production and trade are relatively small, both countries are important suppliers of basic goods, including food and energy. According to the WTO, in 2019, the two countries provided about 25% of the world's wheat, 15% barley, and 45% sunflower.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy forecasts that 70-80% of the land will be sown this year, depending on developments.
Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has lost $ 1.5 billion in food exports.