Skip to Main Content

Statistics: Economic, Financial, Industry and Market data (A guide on how to find and retrieve the data): Statistical resources - products and trade

Statistical resources - products & trade

Useful, timely and validated figures on the size of the market might be difficult to find. To determine the size of a foreign market, it is recommended to go to the relevant national statistical agency. Look here for a list of statistical agencies.

Many statistical agencies publish detailed statements, but often foreign trade and production statistics are compiled according to different classifications (nomenclatures). Furthermore, many international statistical publications are less detailed on the product side than those from national statistical sources. Thus, calculations of the size of the market through these publications, will typically be based on somewhat less detailed product classifications or at the industry level. 

A database that meets the requirements to use the same nomenclature for both import, export and production of goods that makes it possible to calculate the sale or supply, is Eurostat´s database EUROPROMS. See below.

A few other statistic providers such as FAO also use the same nomenclature for production and foreign trade statistics, but it only covers agricultural products.

To read a description of the nomenclatures used for the statistics:


Data on industries, markets, international trade, and more 

         DATABASE                 

                   CONTENT                             

 GUIDES &  HELP 
  DATA EXPORT  

 COMEXT / EUROSTAT
(European Union)

International trade: (External trade detailed data)

Eurostats Comext database with detailed data on the EU countries' foreign trade by trade partners, and 2,4,6 and 8-digit HS / CN and SITC product group codes. Data are published monthly and for each product there is data on the value (in Euros) and quantity (tonnes)

User Manual 
Focus on COMEXT


Export of Data:
in Excel

 

Prodcom - Europroms / Eurostat
(European Union)

Production. Statistics on the production of manufactured goods:

Comaparative data on production in EU countries of approx. 3500 products according to the PRODCOM classification. It also contains data on import and export according to PRODCOM, so it is possible to estimate the market supply.

 

PRODCOM LIST 2013

PRODCOM statistics
 


Export of Data:
in Excel

Market access Database / European Commission
(European Union)

International trade:

Contains a "Statistical database" with tables on the EU´s trade flows in goods with the rest of the world by HS and CN classifications. The site also contains country profiles covering general aspects of trade policy, trade barriers, applied tariffs, etc. 
For more detailed trade statistics (monthly statistics, aggregate data etc.) use the Comext database

Export of Data:
in Excel

 

OECD - International trade by commodities / OECD

International trade:

Here it is possible to obtain data on the fully developed 5-digit SITC product codes and the HS codes. Gives full commodity and partner country detail, 1961-. Different countries and areas of trade. SITC Rev. 2 contains data back to 1961. Though Revision 3 contains more variables, its data begins in 1990. Annual series of reports on value of foreign trade for 25 OECD countries by SITC 1 to 2 digit commodity and partner country, world, region, and economic groupings. Data are classified according to the SITC (Standard International Trade Classification) or HS (Harmonized System) classification.

User Guide 


Export of data
 in Excel, comma-delimited text (CSV), PC-Axis, SDMX (XML) format

 

OECD - Main Economic Indicators

Economic indicators

Reports total value (in national currencies) of  among other things imports and exports for OECD countries.

User Guide 


Export of data
 in Excel, comma-delimited text (CSV), PC-Axis, SDMX (XML) format

OECD - Monthly Statistics of International Trade.

International trade:

For OECD member countries, provides exports & imports of broad commodity categories and exports & imports by trading partner countries. Values in U.S. dollars with conversion tables for national currencies. Monthly, quarterly, & annual data.  Earliest data is 1955.

 
OECD Statistics on International Trade in Services

International trade - services:

Annual report of data on service trade, investment, intellectual property income and comparisons to total merchandise trade

 
International trade and tariff data / WTO

International trade and tariff data:

International trade statistics by commodities and regions.

Where to find WTO trade and tariff data
International trade statistics / International Trade Centre (UN og WTO)

International trade:

Here it is possible to run reports that show all countries' trade on a single commodity code or a single country´s trade on all items. Annual data on 2- or 4- digit HS codes.

 

 
Commodity trade statistics database (Comtrade) / United Nations
(UN Comtrade)

International trade:

Annual data on import/export from around the word in HS- or SITC nomenclatures. Alternatively, a link with data from 1988, http://data.un.org/browse.aspx?d=ComTrade

 

 

UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics On-line

International trade:

Statistics on international trade in goods and services. 

 
Industrial Commodity Statistics Database / United Nations

Industrial production:

Contains data on industrial production by ISIC industry codes.

 
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

International trade - agriculture:

Here it is possible to search all of FAO´s statistical databases with annual data on trade in agricultural-, fishery- and forest products worldwide, as well as production of crop and animal products.

 
 World trade indicators / World Bank

International trade and trade policies:

This database allows you to compare and rank countries´ trade policies. Approximately 200 countries are assesed in respect to trade barriers and incentives

 
World Development Indicators

International trade:

If looking for totals and not bilateral trade or trade by the specific commodity, then start with World Development Indicators.  It includes some large regional breakdowns as well as broad breakdowns for areas such as goods and services, arms, fuel, and agricultural raw materials. Be careful regarding how each variable is measured.

 
UN Service Trade

International trade - Service:

Coverage: 2000+. The current scope of UN ServiceTrade is resident to non-resident trade in services and some related data series, broken down by EBOPS category and partner country on an annual basis.  Free registration is required.

 
Services Trade Restrictions Database.

International trade - services and trade policies:

World Bank database that provides comparable information on services trade policy measures for 103 countries, 5 sectors (telecommunications, finance, transportation, retail and professional services) and key modes of delivery.

 
Trade Costs Database (World Bank)

International trade (bilateral trade costs)

Provides estimates of bilateral trade costs in agriculture and manufactured goods for the 1995-2010 period. It is built on trade and production data collected in 178 countries. Symmetric bilateral trade costs are computed using the Inverse Gravity Framework (Novy 2009), which estimates trade costs for each country pair using bilateral trade and gross national output.

 
Statista

Statistical, market and consumer behavior data as well as quantitative research and analyses dealing with media, business, finance, politics etc.

Covers approximately 60,000 topics pulled from 18.000 sources and broken down into 21 categories. Sources include market reports, trade and scholarly journals, and much more. Statista data are global in scope and are pulled from public sources such as the World Bank, the US Census Bureau, and the International Monetary Fund, as well as from “protected” sources via press releases etc. 

Contents are sorted into the following categories: Statistics, Studies, Dossiers & Industry Reports, Topics, and Infographics

Source description: Each statistical entry is accompanied by detailed background information, including source, date of publication, methodology, and keywords.

Statista in German and English: Statista is a German product and as such contains huge amounts of very detailed information on Germany and the German market. Contents are not the same across the two databases so if you are specifically looking for data on Germany and not Europe as a whole, you might want to consider starting out in the German database, and of course using German keywords!

 
     

 

 

CBS Library, Solbjerg Plads 3, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

Homepage | Addresses and Opening Hours | Contact