THE QUESTIONS
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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METHODOLOGY
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NAVIGATION AND USE OF THE TOOL
THE ANSWERS
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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What are mirror statistics?
In Trade Map, yearly data are available not only for countries that report their own trade data, but also for the over 50 primarily low-income countries that do not report national trade statistics to COMTRADE. The trade of these countries has been reconstructed on the basis of data reported by partner countries and the statistics obtained are called mirror statistics.
While mirror statistics are a second-best solution, they are better than having no data at all. However, they have a number of shortcomings in comparison to nationally reported data:
- They do not cover trade with non-reporting countries. As a result, mirror statistics do not adequately cover intra-Africa trade.
- There is the problem of transshipments, which may hide the actual source of supply.
- Mirror statistics invert the reporting standards by valuating exports in CIF terms (i.e. inclusive of transport and insurance) and imports in FOB terms (exclusive of these items). You can read more about CIF and FOB in FAQ 2.c.
- The number of reporting countries is different from one year to another. Hence comparisons over time using mirror statistics need to be interpreted with caution.
To conclude, the mirror statistics are indicative of the trade but usually do not reflect the whole picture. Consequently, one needs to be very careful in one’s analysis when comparing mirror data with direct data.
Data in Trade Map, trade data are published by default as reported by countries but it is always interesting to complement your analysis of direct data by checking mirror data. For example, if you look at Chile's reported exports, Netherlands is one of Chile's main trading partners. If you look at the same table based on partners data (mirror statistics) you will see that Germany is a more important partner for Chile than Netherlands. It means that for many products exported by Chile, the final destination is not Netherlands but Germany. This phenomenum is known as "the Rotterdam effect" and Trade Map will help you to identify this kind of effect.
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What is the Harmonized System?
The Harmonized System is an international nomenclature defined by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) for the classification of products. It allows participating countries to classify traded goods on a common basis for customs purposes. At the international level, the Harmonized System (HS) for classifying goods is a six-digit code system.
The HS comprises approximately 5,300 article/product descriptions that appear as headings and subheadings, arranged in 96 chapters (plus three special chapters), grouped in 21 sections (not used in Trade Map). The six digits can be interpreted by groups of two digits. The first two digits (HS-2) identify the chapter the goods are classified in, e.g. 09 = Coffee, Tea, Maté and Spices. The next two digits (HS-4) identify groupings within that chapter, e.g. 09.02 = Tea, whether or not flavoured. The next two digits (HS-6) are even more specific, e.g. 09.02.10 Green tea (not fermented)... Up to the HS-6 digit level, all countries using the Harmonized System classify products in the same way.
The Harmonized System was introduced in 1988 and has been adopted by almost all countries worldwide. It has undergone several changes in the classification of products. These changes are called revisions and happened in 1996, 2002 and 2007. You can read more about the use of the HS revision in Trade Map in FAQ 2.i.
Here is the count of affected products at the six-digit level by revision:
| Year of the revision |
Number of unchanged products |
Number of new products |
Number of reused products |
Number of deleted products |
| 1988 |
0 |
5020 |
0 |
0 |
| 1996 |
4421 |
348 |
344 |
255 |
| 2002 |
4713 |
338 |
173 |
227 |
| 2007 |
4451 |
262 |
341 |
432 |
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What is a Tariff Line?
The "tariff line" is the most detailed product code used at the national level, beyond the 6 digits of the Harmonized System. Tariff line codes and the corresponding product descriptions can differ from one country to another. It refers to the most detailed description of a product in the country. Tariffs are applied to these positions.
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What are re-exports?
Re-exports are foreign goods that are re-exported in the same state as previously imported. They are included in the country exports. It is recommended that Customs Offices record them separately for analytical purposes, however this is rarely done in practice. Recording them separately may require the use of supplementary sources of information in order to determine the origin of re-exports, that is, to determine that the goods in question are indeed re-exports rather than the export of goods that have acquired domestic origin through processing. It is not possible to determine through Trade Map which export data are indeed re-export data as most customs offices do not currently record re-exports separately.
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What are re-imports?
Re-imports are goods imported in the same state as previously exported. They are included in the country exports. It is recommended that Customs Offices record them separately for analytical purposes, however this is rarely done in practice. Recording them separately may require the use of supplementary sources of information in order to determine the origin of re-imports, i.e. to determine that the goods in question are indeed re-imports rather than the import of goods that have acquired foreign origin through processing. It is not possible to determine through Trade Map which import data are indeed re-import data as most customs offices do not record re-imports separately.
There are several reasons why an exported good might return to the country of origin. The exported good might be defective, the importer might have defaulted on payments or cancelled the order, the authorities might have imposed an import barrier or a demand. Another possibility is that domestic prices in the country of origin might have made it worthwhile to bring the product back in order to sell it locally.
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What is a tariff?
A tariff is a customs duty or tax levied on imports of merchandise goods. Most of the time a tariff is an ad valorem tariff (percentage of value) or a specific tariff (e.g. $100 per ton). Less often, it can be a compound tariff made up of both of these elements applies. Tariffs are mostly levied on imports, but there are cases of tariffs on exports. Tariffs raise revenue for the government and increase the price of imported products, thus giving domestically produced products a price advantage.
Generally, it is the importer that pays the tariff. The importer declares the dutialbe value of merchandise to the Customs Authority in the importing country and the final appraisal of the goods value is done by Customs. Most often it is the transaction value (the price actually paid by the buyer to the seller) that serves as the basis for the value appraisal. The final appraisement is fixed by Customs.
Tariffs presented in Trade Map are averages of ad valorem equivalent import tariffs.
To learn more about tariffs please visit Market Access Map.
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What should users take into consideration when they use foreign trade statistics as a basis for strategic market research?
Foreign trade statistics provide a differentiated picture of trade flows among countries. They are comprehensive in terms of product coverage (more than 5,300 products under the Harmonized System), geographical coverage (around 220 countries and territories; reported and mirror data cover 97% of world trade) and time series (data under the Harmonized System are available since 1988). Moreover, they are readily available at moderate costs. This makes them an attractive source for market research and the assessment of trade performance.
Against this background, ITC has developed a number of tools for international marketing and trade promotion based on trade statistics. Trade Competitiveness Map (formerly known as Country Map), Trade Map, Market Access Map, Investment Map and Product Map are all cases in point. All of these tools strive to present trade statistics in an analytical and user-friendly format.
Notwithstanding the attractiveness of this comprehensive source of information, users should factor in the following weak points of foreign trade statistics:
- Trade data are never complete: Smuggling and non-reporting represent a serious problem in a number of countries. In addition, trade statistics, like any source of information, are not free of mistakes and omissions.
- Most countries include imports for re-exports and in their import statistics and re-exports in their export statistics. A low-income country may show up as an exporter of airplanes simply because its national airline has sold second-hand planes.
- The export value refers to the total or contract value. According to international conventions for reporting trade statistics, the export value refers to the total or contract value, which may of course, be very different from local value-added. For many processing activities the local value added remains below 20% of the export value.
- Different products are categorized differently. Even at the most detailed level of product classification, product groups in the trade nomenclatures do not necessarily reflect trade names and often contain a wide range of different products. For example no country has tariff line product codes for organically produced produce. Moreover, the product nomenclature is sometimes misleading. The labels of aggregated product groups are often very general and provide at times only limited guidance on the leading items within the group of products concerned.
- Exchange rate fluctuations are not always recorded. Exchange rate fluctuations are not always properly recorded in international trade statistics. Values are normally aggregated over the period of one year in local currency and converted into US dollars. In Trade Map, monthly trade data will help you to better analyze exchange rate fluctuations.
- Mirror statistics are sometimes used. For countries that do not report trade data to the United Nations, ITC uses partner country data, an approach referred to as mirror statistics. You can read more about mirror statistics in FAQ 1.a.
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What does "Areas NES" mean?
The partner "Areas NES (not elsewhere specified)" is used (a) for low value trade and (b) if the partner designation was unknown to the country or if an error was made in the partner assignment. The reporting country does not send ITC the details of the trading partner in these specific cases. Sometimes reporters do this to protect company information.
So, one could say that "Area nes" is a group of partner countries, but the components of the group vary by reporter, by year and by commodity.
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What does "Special Categories" mean?
The partner "Special Categories" is used by a reporting country if it does not want the partner breakdown to be disclosed. The use of this partner code depends on the combination of reporting country, trade flow and specific commodity.
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What is a "Free Zone"?
"Free Zones" belong to the geographical and economic territory of a country but not to its customs territory. For the purpose of trade statistics the transactions between the customs territory and the free zones are recorded. Free zones can be commercial free zones (duty free shops) or industrial free zones.
A Free Zone is not a Free Trade Area.
Both "Free Zone" and "Bunkers" are trading partner entities.
For a definition of free zones in the EU, see:
ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/customs/procedural_aspects/imports/free_zones/index_en.htm
For a list of free zones in the EU, see:
ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/customs/procedural_aspects/imports/free_zones/list_freezones.pdf
For the list of the world free trade zones, see:
www.escapeartist.com/ftz/ftz_index.html
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What is a "Free Trade Area"?
A free trade area is a group of two or more countries or economies (or customs territories in technical language) that have eliminated tariffs and all or most non-tariff measures affecting trade amongst themselves. Participating countries usually continue to apply their existing tariffs on imports of goods external to the free trade area. Free trade areas are called reciprocal when all partners eliminate their tariffs and other barriers towards each other. There are cases where developing countries are exempt from making equivalent reductions, even though they get free access to developed-country markets. These are called non-reciprocal free trade areas.
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What are "Bunkers"?
"Bunkers" are ship stores and aircraft supplies, which consist mostly of fuels and food.
Both "Free Zone" and "Bunkers" are trading partner entities.
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What is a "Neutral Zone"?
"Neutral Zone" is a zone defined by a treaty, such as the one between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/TREATIES/SAU-KWT2000SA.PDF)
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Where can I find other trade statistics databases?
Other trade statistics data are available in the following websites:
Comtrade: comtrade.un.org/
Eurostat: epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
World Trade Atlas: www.gtis.com
United States International Trade Commission: www.usitc.gov
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METHODOLOGY
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What are the sources of the data for Trade Map?
The yearly data in Trade Map at 2, 4, and 6 digit level of the Harmonized System is based on COMTRADE, the world's largest database of trade statistics, maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). The quarterly and monthly data come from national and regional sources.
Data are available also for countries that do not report their national trade statistics to Comtrade. The trade of these countries has been reconstructed on the basis of data reported by partner countries. These data are called mirror statistics (see also the FAQ on mirror statistics).
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When is the Trade Map database updated?
| Type of Data |
Update |
| Annual data at 6 digit level of the HS |
All year round, as we receive the data |
| Annual data at the tariff line level |
All year round, as we receive the data |
| Monthly and Quarterly data |
All year round, as we receive the data |
| Indicators (Trends) |
Twice a year (February-March / September/October) |
| Trade in services |
Once a year (February-March) |
| Tariffs |
Three times a year |
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Why is there a difference between reported export value and the corresponding mirror data of the partner country?
Export statistics rarely line up exactly with the import statistics of partner countries.
More than 30 reasons have been identified. The main reasons include:- Trade systems: some countries use the special trade system (which excludes trade made in free zones), some others use the general trade system (which includes free zones).
- Quantity measurement: some countries report gross weights and some others report net weights.
- Time lag: discrepancies may result if exports are registered in one year and the corresponding imports in the following year. Large discrepancies due to time lag often affect trade in ships as it involves high cost and some years may elapse between the recording of exports and that of imports.
- Misallocation of a partner country or a product can occur for a reporting country. This only affects bilateral trade or respectively detailed product levels, not the overall trade.
- Country confidentiality (recorded as "Area NES", see FAQ 1.h) may have a direct impact on the overall discrepancies if the value of that flow is published in the total trade but not broken down by partner. Product confidentiality affects the results at detailed levels of the commodity nomenclature but have no impact, however, on the overall mutual trade statistics.
- Re-exports (see FAQ 1.d) or transit may be taken into account by some countries. The United Nations recommandation state, among other things, that:
- import statistics should be compiled by country of origin (recommandation 8.02),
- export statistics should be compiled by last known destination (recommandation 8.09),
- goods in transit should be excluded from trade statistics (recommandation 13.04). However the exporting country does not always know the final destination of the product. Furthermore the country of origin is neither the country that have re-exported the product nor the country where the product has transited;
- Transportation and insurance costs are included in the reported import value (CIF: Cost Insurance Freight) but are excluded from the reported export value (FOB: Free On Board).
FOB: A trade term (Incoterm) meaning Free on Board (port of shipment). See www.iccwbo.org/incoterms/id3038/index.html for more details.
CIF: A trade term (Incoterm) meaning Cost, Insurance and Freight (port of destination). See www.iccwbo.org/incoterms/id3038/index.html for more details.
According to international standards, exports are valued FOB and imports are valued CIF. Some countries, however, do not follow this system. You may want to check on the COMTRADE website comtrade.un.org/db/mr/daExpNoteDetail.aspx?nom=-30.
In addition, as far as we know, there is no modeling for converting FOB values in CIF and vice-versa.
All these reasons refer to each country's methodology of data compilation. The United Nations have made recommandations in International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions or the Compilers Manual. To know to which extend a particular country comply with UN recommandation, please visit the International Merchandise Trade Statistics National Compilation and Reporting Practices page of the UNSD website.
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How are the 5-year growth trend indicators calculated in Trade Map?
The 5-year growth trend indicators in Trade Map are calculated using the logarithmic least-squares trend method on series valued in current US$. They are updated twice a year: the first update with data of the previous year is done in September-October and the second update is done in February-March of the following year, when almost all reporting countries have transmitted their data to COMTRADE, (the United Nations Statistics Division database).
If a country does not report trade data for the last year, the trend calculation is based on mirror statistics.
No trend is calculated if the reporting country data is not available for at least a four-year period.
The least-squares trend is a commonly used growth indicator. It has the following advantages:- It takes into account each of the observations under consideration, unlike geometric (or compound) growth rates, which only consider the first and last observations;
- It measures the stability of observed growth (not provided in Trade Map).
On the negative side, the least-squares growth trend is very sensitive to extreme (or outlying) values. Such values may distort the results significantly. Extreme values that are unrelated to the growth process under study should therefore be excluded.
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What is the difference between the Trade Indicators and the Time Series data?
Trade indicators are available for the latest year when reporting countries cover at least 80% of the world. They are pre-calculated and therefore, it is possible to have in the same table indicators on country performance, on partner countries and on world trend (e.g. growth trends in values and quantities over 5 years and over the last 2 years, trade balance for a country, market share of the country in global exports or imports, share of a partner country in the exports or imports of the country under consideration).
Trade indicators are based on products classified according to the HS revision 2 of 2002. Some product codes have been re-created, removed or reallocated in the HS revision 2 and therefore the analysis of such products codes should be approached with caution. A correspondence table for products that changed during HS revisions is available in Trade Map, under 'Reference Material'.
Time Series show data over several years (to see how many years, go to the drop down menu at the top of the screen: Reference Material – Data availability). The table can be displayed in values and quantities. It is also possible to calculate on line growth rates in value or in quantity, shares, unit values, growth rates in unit values and indexes in values, quantities or unit values. Data are provided by year, by quarter or by month. The selection can be done from the navigation menu above the table.
The latest HS revision reported by the country for y given year is used for time series. You can read more about this in FAQ 2.i.
Time series data allow one to refine the analysis conducted after looking at the trade indicators. The fluctuations in the data from one year to another can be large and not necessarily be reflected in the annual growth trend displayed in the table with trade indicators.
Monthly data will help the user to identify seasonal patterns and the impact on trade flows of national or international events like currency devaluation or an economic / financial crisis.
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I entered a 6-digit product code in the selection menu and I could only select Time Series data. Why?
This is because the product code you selected has been created after 2002 and therefore it was not available in the 2002 revision of the Harmonized System (HS) in which trade indicators have been pre-calculated. It could also be a product that was available in the 1996 HS revision and that has been removed in the 2002 revision.
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How can I find data over several years when the product code has changed because of a revision of the Harmonized System?
You need to find the corresponding codes in the previous revision. Please go to the drop down list 'Reference Material' and then 'Corresponding product code'.
For instance, if you select the imports of the product 010594 (live fowls of the species Gallus domesticus, weighing > 185), the table you arrive at indicates that the product code selected has been created in the 2007 HS revision. So the countries that are displayed are the ones that reported their trade for this product in the 2007 revision.
By going to the Reference Material section, you will see that in the 1996 HS revision, you had two codes corresponding to the 010594: the 010592 (live fowls (Gallus domesticus) weighing 0.185-2 kg) and the 010593 (Live fowl (gallus domesticus) >2kg)
You can see this as well by staying in the table of the imports of 010594 in time series and switching in the navigation bar to ‘by product’ (instead of 'by country') and switching to 'Corresponding code with different revisions'. The two product codes 010592 and 010593 will appear. By clicking on each respective product code, you will have the list of importing countries in time series.
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What exchange rates are applied?
The yearly data we receive from COMTRADE are in US$. In general, quarterly and monthly data are collected in local currencies. The exchange rate used to convert the local currencies into US$ is a simple arithmetic mean of the daily intrabank rates, provided by onanda.com.
To display the data in different currencies in Trade Map, the exchange rate applied is a simple arithmetic mean of the daily intrabank rates, provided by www.oanda.com.
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In which HS revision is the data from Trade Map provided?
The HS revision of 2002 is used for the trade indicators.
For all time series data, the revision used is the latest revision reported by the country for a given year (this information is available from the UNSD Comtrade database on http://comtrade.un.org/db. Go to "Metadata and Reference", then "Country list". Next to each country, click on the link "Data availability"; the years in grey are the data reported. The years in blue are the data converted).
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Why is China an importing patner of China?
China's imports from China is partially explained by normal re-import. Please see the FAQ on re-import. The most important part is related to processing trade. More than 90% of China's imports from China are produced in China, exported to Hong Kong and then re-imported in China. 73% of products re-imported are used as inward processing materials and 70% are imported by the region of Guangdong. The main reasons that explain this trade are the geographic and logistic conveniance of Guangdong with Hong Kong. Goods entering for processing trade are exempted from import duties.
The business management of multinational enterprises and their distribution centers are often based in Hong Kong.
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NAVIGATION AND USE OF THE TOOL
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How can I find the trade data at the tariff line level?
When you select a product without having selected any country and submit the request (either with Trade Indicators or Time Series), you get a list of countries importing or exporting this product. You then need to click on the '+' sign to access data at a more disaggregated level. If the product code selected in the selection menu was at the 4 digit level, by clicking on the '+' sign, you will go to the 6 digit level and by clicking again on the '+' sign, you will reach the tariff line level. You can also click on the pull-down menu available in the navigation bar and select "product cluster at 10-digit"
An alternative way to get tariff line level data is to click on the product code in the navigation bar.
Additionally, you can click on the link 'Advanced search' in the selection menu: you then need to put one or more keywords, select ‘tariff line level’ and submit your query by clicking on 'Search'.
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How can I get an account to access Trade Map?
You can either register on ITC’s web site www.intracen.org/marketanalysis or at mas-admintools.intracen.org/accounts/Registration.aspx
Users located in developing countries can have a free access to ITC’s Market Analysis Tools Trade Map, Market Access Map, Investment Map and Product Map until the end of 2010 and possibly beyond. Users from developed countries may be interested in purchasing a subscription. Subscription options and fees are available at www.intracen.org/marketanalysis
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I cannot access Trade Map
The reasons can be the following:- Your free trial access expired. Please contact ITC’s team at the Market Analysis and Research section at marketanalysis@intracen.org.
- You received an email from ITC asking you to confirm your email address by clicking on a link but you did not confirm. Hence, your account has not been activated. Please validate your account before contacting us at marketanalysis@intracen.org.
- Your password is case sensitive. Please type it the same way you created it (lower case letters or capital letters).
If you still cannot access Trade Map, please send us the following information at marketanalysis@intracen.org:- URL you used to log in
- Username and password
- Error message (if any)
- Screenshot
- Query you did
- Browser used
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How can I learn more on using Trade Map?
Some videos about the navigation in Trade Map and the interpretation of figures are available on the Distance Learning Support page accessible from the Market analysis tools portal: www.intracen.org/marketanalysis/DistanceLearning.aspx.
A user guide is also available: www.intracen.org/marketanalysis/UserGuide.aspx.
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