Economy and Trade

The Parallax Project: Innovating Lebanon's Trade Data

In 2024, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) Beirut office and The Policy Initiative (TPI) revealed the Parallax Project—an innovative digital platform that reimagines how Lebanon’s trade data is presented and understood.

Building on the findings of the 2023 report "Unpacking Lebanon’s Trade Amid the Crisis", this advanced initiative transforms complex trade statistics into an engaging and interactive showcase. The platform is designed to provide policymakers, researchers, and the public with clear insights into Lebanon’s trade landscape, highlighting economic challenges.

This project empowers stakeholders with the knowledge needed to drive informed decisions and foster meaningful discourse on Lebanon’s economic future.

Building on the 2023 Report: Key Insights

This project draws on the important findings of the 2023 FNF-TPI study, which analyzed Lebanon’s import and export data from 2018 to 2022. The report delved into several pivotal areas, including consumer behavior, luxury goods consumption, essential goods imports, and the feasibility of import substitution in the face of economic crisis.

The study highlighted both the resilience of Lebanon’s trade sector and its struggles, emphasizing the need for a more diverse and strong industrial and agricultural base. Among the key insights, the report identified an economic divide: while luxury imports have shown signs of recovery, essential goods continue to lag. This imbalance underscores the necessity for a more equitable and sustainable trade strategy, one that aligns with Lebanon’s broader economic recovery goals.

These findings serve as the foundation for this innovative project, which aims to inform policy discussions and contribute to Lebanon’s path toward economic stability and growth.

The Trade Lens: Visualizing Lebanon’s Economy

The 2024 parallax project transforms the 2023 report’s findings into an interactive digital format, offering audiences a visually engaging way to explore this topic. Parallax scrolling allows users to dive into Lebanon’s export and import specifics—while also seeing shifts in trade partners and export destinations. This approach makes economic data accessible and relevant to a wider audience.

The project reflects FNF and TPI’s shared commitment to transparency and accessibility in economic reporting. By turning complex data into a format that is easy to understand, it aims to empower citizens, policymakers, and researchers alike to make informed decisions and embrace policy discussions around Lebanon’s economic future. Hence, it provides a comprehensive view toward essential reforms that can help stabilize the economy!