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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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Trade statistics (part 1)
Trade statistics are a by-product of customs procedures. They exist for trade flows that have to be declared to customs authorities in terms of the direction of the flow and the type of commodity. This explains why there are neither comparable statistics for domestic trade (not even in countries as large and diversified as the United States of America) nor for non merchandise trade flows, e.g. services.
The raw data used for the compilation of trade statistics comes from customs declarations filled in by exporters and importers and verified by customs authorities.
In countries where customs procedures are fully computerized, the customs department sends a magnetic data medium with details of all import and export transactions to the department of statistics, where the data is cleaned and aggregated by product and country, usually on a monthly basis. In many countries, monthly trade data is now available as soon as two weeks after the period to which they refer.
In countries where the customs procedures are not yet fully computerized, the statistics department usually obtains a paper copy of the original declaration and inputs the relevant data. This manual process is time consuming and error prone. Computerized customs procedures, on the other hand, help to make trade statistics available earlier. Many developing countries have computerized their customs procedures by introducing ASYCUDA, a customs software program for microcomputer developed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
In view of the considerable volume of customs declarations, most statistics departments have written special software programs for the preparation of trade statistics. Such programs capture, clean and process the raw data and prepare standardized outputs, i.e. exports and imports by product and country in trade indices such as the terms of trade. EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has developed such a microcomputer-based program, known as EUROTRACE, for developing countries.
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Trade statistics (part 2)
Market research is affected by three characteristics of the data collection process in many statistics departments.
Firstly, statistics departments are generally bound by rather restrictive confidentiality requirements over disaggregated data: in several countries they cannot release enterprise specific trade data. Often, disaggregated data is withheld if there are only one or two exporters or importers, or a single dominant trader. The role of Philips in electronic exports from the Netherlands is a case in point. Yet, the situation is changing gradually; a growing number of countries make enterprise-specific trade data available. For instance, in the UK, names and addresses of all importers together with the products they import, and the months in which they were active are available. China is another case in point. Chinese trade data includes company names and addresses by product, province, partner country, mode of transportation, customs regime and point of entry or exit. Further information is available from the Statistics Department, General Administration of Customs, P.R. China.
Secondly, statistics departments emphasize the quality of data. They often subject the raw data to elaborate screening processes, which are time consuming and liable to delay the publication of trade statistics. It should be noted, however, that in most countries the delay in publishing trade statistics occurs during the actual publication stage.
Thirdly, statistics departments do not always have the resources necessary to prepare trade statistics quickly. This is another reason for significant publishing delays in many countries.
Given this scenario, many countries have established a second method of accessing trade data. Trade ministries have direct links with customs authorities and obtain the raw data in addition to the aggregated results from the statistics department. This has considerably reduced the time scale in which trade data is made available. Furthermore, it has enabled governmental institutions to monitor trade flows at a more detailed and disaggregated level and to bring into sharper relief the performance of individual enterprises.
Apart from customs declarations, there are two other primary data sources for foreign trade statistics, namely import and export licenses in countries with licensing requirements, and trade related foreign exchange transactions. In countries where traders require import and export licenses, the licensing institution - in general the Ministry of Trade - maintains a register of all licenses. In addition, central banks in several countries compile data on trade related foreign exchange flows. In general, these institutions do not provide any analysis of trade flows by product.
The fact that international trade statistics are based on customs declarations, rather than licenses or foreign exchange receipts, emphasizes the actual, physical movement of goods. Trade transactions are included irrespective of whether they require a license and whether they entail foreign exchange transactions. This explains the frequent discrepancies between aggregated trade data originating from these three different institutions.
Extract from ITC’s publication: “Foreign Trade Statistics: A Guide for their use in market research”.
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What are mirrors 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:
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They do not cover trade with non-reporting countries. As a result, mirror statistics hardly cover intra-Africa trade.
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There is the problem of transshipments, which may hide the actual source of supply.
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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).
As a conclusion, the mirror statistics give an idea of the trade but do not reflect the exact reality. Consequently, one needs to be very careful in one’s analysis when comparing mirror data with direct data.
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Harmonized System
The Harmonized System is an international nomenclature 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 99 chapters, grouped in 21 sections. The six digits can be broken down into three parts. 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 classify products in the same way (a few exceptions exist where some countries apply old versions of the HS).
The Harmonized System was introduced in 1988 and has been adopted by most of the countries worldwide. It has undergone several changes in the classification of products. These changes are called revisions and happened in 1996, 2002 and 2007.
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Tariff line
The tariff line is the product code used at the national level, beyond the 6 digits of the Harmonized System. It is different from one country to another.
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What are re-exports?
Re-exports are exports of foreign goods in the same state as previously imported; they are to be included in the country exports. It is recommended that they be recorded separately for analytical purposes. This may require the use of supplementary sources of information in order to determine the origin of re-exports, i.e., 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 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 imports. It is recommended that they be recorded separately for analytical purposes. This 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 demand or prices in the country of origin might have made it worthwhile to bring the good back.
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Tariff
A tariff is a customs duty or tax levied on imports of merchandise goods. A tariff can be an ad valorem tariff (percentage of value) or a specific tariff (e.g. $100 per ton). Less often, 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.
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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:
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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.
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Most countries include imports for re-exports and re-exports in their trade statistics. A low-income country may show up as an exporter of airplanes simply because its national airline has sold second-hand planes.
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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.
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Different products are categorized differently. Even at the lowest level of disaggregation, product groups in the trade nomenclatures do not necessarily reflect trade names and often contain a wide range of different products. 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.
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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.
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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. Mirror statistics are a second-best solution being better than having no data at all and allow the coverage of the over 50 primarily low-income countries that do not report national trade statistics to COMTRADE. Please see: what are mirrors statistics?
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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 us 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:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/customs/procedural_aspects/imports/free_zones/index_en.htm
For a list of free zones in the EU, see:
http://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:
http://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 among 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 the Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (http://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/TREATIES/SAU-KWT2000SA.PDF)
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Where can I find other trade statistics database?
Other trade statistics data are available in the following websites:
Comtrade: http://comtrade.un.org/
Eurostat: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
World Trade Atlas: http://www.gtis.com
United States International Trade Commission: http://www.usitc.gov
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METHODOLOGY
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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 question 1-c).
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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 / October-November) |
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Why is there a difference in export value and import value for the same product between two countries?
Export statistics rarely line up exactly with the import statistics of partner countries.
More than 30 reasons have been identified. The main reasons include:
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re-exports (see question 1-f) or transit
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transportation costs 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 http://www.iccwbo.org/incoterms/id3038/index.html for more details.
CIF: A trade term (Incoterm) meaning Cost, Insurance and Freight (port of destination). See http://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 http://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.
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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 least-squares trend method and are updated twice a year: the first update with data of the previous year is done in October-November 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:
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It takes into account each of the observations under consideration, unlike geometric (or compound) growth rates, which only consider the first and last observations;
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It measures the stability of observed growth;
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 covering 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 1 of 1996. Some product codes have been removed or reallocated in the HS revision 2 and therefore the analysis of such products codes should be cautious. A correspondence table for products that changed revision 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 and growth rates in unit values. Data are provided by year, by quarter or by month. The selection can be done from the tools bar above the table.
The latest HS revision reported by the country is used for time series.
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.
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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.
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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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 revision 1 of the Harmonized System (HS) in which trade indicators have been pre-calculated.
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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$. 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 onanda.com.
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In which HS revision is the data from Trade Map provided?
The revision of 1996 is used for the trade indicators.
For all other 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 the data converted).
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NAVIGATION AND USE OF THE TOOL
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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/mat or at http://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 2008 and possibly beyond. Users from developed countries may be interested in purchasing a subscription. Subscription options and fees are available at www.intracen.org/mat
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I cannot access Trade Map
The reasons can be the following:
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If you still cannot access Trade Map, please send us the following information at mat@intracen.org:
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