Global plastics production declined in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, only the third time since World War II that output has fallen, an industry body said Thursday.
Output has fallen only twice previously, as a result of the oil crisis in 1973 and during the financial crisis in 2008.
Worldwide output slipped to 367 million tonnes last year from 368 million in 2019, a 0.3% decline, according to the industry federation PlasticsEurope.
The drop was due to "the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy", PlasticsEurope said in a statement.
But output in China -- which currently accounts for a third of global plastics production -- continued to grow by 1%.
In Europe, production of new plastics was down 5.1% at 55 million tons last year, PlasticsEurope said.
The automobile sector, one of the biggest customers for the industry, saw its plastics consumption plunge by 18% in Europe in 2020, the federation calculated.
The 27-nation EU now accounts for just 15% of worldwide plastics production, down from 21% in 2010.
The United States produces around 19% of the world's plastics, compared with 20% 10 years ago.
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