What data tells us about the impact of falling oil prices

Tumbling oil prices continue to dominate the headlines. Although oil prices have started to rise earlier in the week, this issue is still of concern to many oil-exporting countries.

(Source: FRED Economic Data)

A recent World Bank Group feature story broke down country by country the potential regional consequences. And according to the Bank Group’s Global Economic Prospects report, the decline in oil prices will dampen growth prospects for oil-exporting countries.

There are various factors that can be used to assess the impact of falling oil prices on countries. One such factor is trade. Countries exporting mostly fuel products will lose export revenue as oil prices drop. The chart below shows the top 15 countries that exported fuel in 2012. You can visualize the data for other years and products using the World Integrated Trade Solution’s (WITS) product analysis visualization tool.

You can also find what percent of a country’s exports is crude oil. Crude oil made up 82% of Nigeria’s exports in 2012 (see below). You can visualize fuel exports for all countries in 2012 here.

You can also see what percentage of a country’s exports is fuels.  Here is a view of Nigeria’s product exports in 2012, and you’ll notice that 84% of its export share is in fuels.

You can visualize trade data for other countries using the country analysis visualization tool.

For these visualizations and more, please visit the WITS trade data visualizations section.

This article was first published by the World Bank’s Open Data blog. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Siddhesh Kaushik works in the Development Economics Data Group and manages development of statistical system including the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS).

Image: A worker fills the tank of a car at a petrol station in Cairo, March 12, 2013. REUTERS.