Covid-19, international agricultural economy and animal sectors: the case of China, the United States and the EU

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic is a major global event. A reflection on the first implications of this sanitary crisis for the world agricultural economy and the animal sectors of three geographical areas is proposed in this article. The agri-food systems have been strongly affected by this crisis, whose global economic impacts (a 3.5% drop in world gross domestic product and a 5.3% drop in international trade in goods between 2019 and 2020) are affecting the purchasing power of final consumers. However, they have resisted the crisis well, both in terms of supply (stability or slight growth in the volumes of meat and milk produced on a global scale) and trade. In 2021, the sharp rise in international prices for agricultural products and the rapid resumption of economic growth, particularly in the three zones more specifically studied here (China, the United States and the European Union), suggest that agriculture should remain under pressure from sustained world demand. More than Covid-19, the impact of African swine fever in China has had a major impact on international meat trade flows for several years. In addition, the growing Chinese appetite for dairy products is playing a central role in the development of international dairy markets, to the benefit of exporting areas including the EU and the US.