StatsGuru: How the fall in commodity prices have affected economies worldwide

(CLICK ON GRAPHIC)

As Table 1 shows, the price of oil has dropped below $40 a barrel - capping a long slide down from $115 a barrel in June last year. The secular downward trend is seen in many other commodities - gold, in Table 2, has been more volatile but has also been trending downwards. As Table 3 shows, the prices of major metals and ores have dipped since the beginning of 2014 - coal is half the price it was then, and iron ore less than a third. Many agricultural commodities, too, have seen prices decline in the same period, as shown in Table 4.

The effects on worldwide economies have been stark. While India - a net commodities importer - has shown easy growth, a recovery in its current account deficit (CAD) and fiscal consolidation, its BRICS peers and even first-world commodities exporters like Australia have suffered. Brazil and Russia are contracting, and South Africa has stagnated, and most are struggling to control twin deficits.