The association reports that demand measured in cargo tonne kilometres was down 8% for the year and capacity is returning, ending the year 3% above 2021.
Year-on-year was down 15.3% in December and capacity was down 2.1%, the 10th consecutive month of contractions.
IATA says 2022 ended with mixed signals as new orders have remained at the same level since October, shrinking in major economies except Germany, the US and Japan.
The Consumer Price Index for G7 countries indicated inflation fell to 6.8% in December, a 0.6 percentage point drop on November.
Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA, says that the decline compared to 2021’s extraordinary results put demand 1.6% below 2019.
He says, “The continuing measures by key governments to fight inflation by cooling economies are expected to result in a further decline in cargo volumes in 2023 to -5.6% compared to 2019. It will, however, take time for these measures to bite into cargo rates. So, the good news for air cargo is that average yields and total revenue for 2023 should remain well above what they were pre-pandemic. That should provide some respite in what is likely to be a challenging trading environment in the year ahead.”
Asia Pacific ended the year down 8.8% on 2021 and 7.8% on 2019, with a dramatic fall of 21.2% in December due to lower levels of trade and manufacturing activity and supply chain disruption due to rising Covid cases in China.
North America was down 5.1% in 2022 with an 8.5% fall in December but demand for the year was 13.7% above pre-pandemic levels.
Europe was the worst performer in 2022, declining 11.5% with demand 8.7% below 2019. In December, demand was down 17.4%.
The Middle East declined by 10.7%, putting it 1.6% below 2019. In December, demand was down 14.4%.
Latin America was the only positive performer, up 13.1% compared to 2021, putting it 4.3% below 2019. Demand was up 2.3% in December.
Africa posted a 1.4% decrease in demand but was still 8.3% above 2019. Airlines in the region reported a 10% fall in demand in December.