Stacks of containers fill the Tanjong Pagar port terminal in Singapore on Jan 22, 2021. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

GENEVA - Developing countries, especially East Asian economies, have been leading the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic with strong export growth and gains in market share, said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Wednesday.

Led by trade in goods, global trade recovered in the last quarter of 2020, reducing its overall decline for the year to about nine percent, the Geneva-based UN body said in its quarterly Global Trade Update.

Imports and exports of goods globally grew by about 8 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to a UNCTAD report

While imports and exports of goods grew by about 8 percent in the fourth quarter (Q4) of last year, trade in services stagnated as measures taken in the global fight against COVID-19 continued to affect sectors such as travel.

"The recovery process has been uneven, with many countries lagging," said UNCTAD economist Alessandro Nicita, who worked on the report.

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On a year-on-year basis, trade in goods originating from East Asia grew about 12 percent in Q4 2020, with goods imports up by about 5 percent. China's import and export trade grew by 5 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

For the first quarter of 2021, UNCTAD projects a 1.5 percent fall in trade in goods versus the previous quarter, and a 7 percent drop in trade in services

In contrast, negative trends remained for goods exports originating from most other regions, even in Q4 2020.

"The recovery in Q4 2020 was more broad-based, as trade in most sectors recorded positive growth," Nicita said.

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A recovery in global trade is expected to slow again in the first quarter of 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic keeps disrupting the travel industry after world trade contracted 9 percent in 2020, according to the report.

For the first quarter of this year, UNCTAD projects a 1.5 percent fall in trade in goods versus the previous quarter, and a 7 percent drop in trade in services, although it said its forecasts were uncertain due to the pandemic and uncertainty about stimulus packages.

With Reuters' inputs