Growth in global trade in services slowed in the first quarter of 2020, particularly air travel and container shipping, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said on Wednesday.

The global trade body said its services trade index dropped to 96.8 down from 98.4 that had been recorded in September last year. 

The readings of less than 100 indicate trade growth below medium-term trends.

The WTO said the indicator did not fully capture the economic impact of the coronavirus and is likely to decline further in the coming months.

The largest declines were in passenger air travel and container shipping, but global financial services and information and communication technology (ICT) services were below trend. 

Construction remained largely unaffected.

According to the indicator, the drop in the container shipping index was driven by lower shipping volumes in Asia while the slowdown in passenger air travel was more broad-based, covering North America, South America and Europe.

The global financial transactions indices dipped to 97.7 and ICT services to 97.0, while the construction index (99.8) appeared to have held steady.

The global services Purchasing Managers’ Index – trends in private companies’ activities – also fell to 96.1, reflecting expectations that coronavirus is likely to continue to weigh on services trade in the near-term.