Volume went from 233 million tons in 2012 to 338 million tons in 2020, with further gains projected for 2021.

Demand for clean energy in China and other countries were key factors in the rise in global trade in LNG to 338 million tons in 2020. (Numbers are understated as statistics are not available for all countries.)

On the supply side, LNG exports from North America rose sharply from 2017; exports from the Middle East remained fairly constant over that period. Asia-Pacific LNG trade was highlighted by both rising imports in recent years and expanded intra-regional trade.

From International Trader Publications’ LNG World Trade Analysis, a continuously updated analysis of global trade between countries and regions based on ITP’s database of 100 countries, and, from ITP’s Trade Archive of historic data.