How strongly do economic sanctions impair international trade? And how lasting are their effects? In a new study, we show that complete trade sanctions dampen trade between affected countries significantly more than previous analyses suggest. Furthermore, trade recovers rapidly in many places following the lifting of sanctions, especially when measures are short-lived. In the case of long-lasting sanctions, however, trade losses often persist, for example because business relationships erode and supply chains are permanently reoriented towards other (non-sanctioned) trading partners. If both countries are bound by the multilateral rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), trade tends to recover more quickly after sanctions are lifted.