The first-ever World Wildlife Trade Report was released at the 19th Conference of Parties to CITES held at Panama City.
It is the first COP to CITES to be held in the region since 2002.
3.5 million CITES shipments were reported in direct trade by exports between 2011 and 2020.
This accounts for 1.3 billion individual organisms and 279 million kg of products reported by weight.
Asia and Europe are the top exporters and importers of wildlife trade.
Asia accounted for 37 per cent of export transactions and 31 per cent of import transactions.
Asia and Africa account for the highest proportion of the global export value.
The annual revenue generated by the global legal trade in wildlife (CITES and non-CITES) is around 220 billion USD.
Across all animal commodities, the export of reptiles and fish accounted for over 72 per cent of the average annual value of global CITES-listed exports.