Sources in this section cover multinational sources. Data may be general but the only place to find data for non-developed countries. More specific data related to the OECD, European Union, United States, and other select nations can be found in the rest of the guide.
Throughout various periods of time, certain countries have not been recognized by the United Nations or have not been members of major international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund. Other "countries", such as Hong Kong, are actually territories and, as such, their data is either included with its "parent" country or in their own statistical publications. Availability of data changes vastly over time.
If looking for totals, rather than bilateral trade or trade by a specific commodity, 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.
Direction of Trade Statistics:
- 1948+ (Prior to 1960, data was contained in International Financial Statistics)
- Reports total import & export values in U.S. dollars by trading partners.
- Available through Sage Data or native interface
- For methodology, see the periodic report Guide to Direction of Trade Statistics.
Correlates of War Project. International Trade, 1870-2014. Tracks total national and bilateral trade flows between states.
CEPII - BACI. World trade database at a high level of product disaggregation. Original data are provided from COMTRADE. BACI is constructed using an original procedure that reconciles the declarations of the exporter & the importer. This harmonization procedure enables to extend considerably the number of countries for which trade data are available, as compared to the original dataset. Provides bilateral values and quantities of exports at the HS 6-digit product disaggregation, for more than 200 countries since 1995. Updated annually. Users have to testify that their organization has an active UN Comtrade subscription to download BACI.
UN Comtrade Database - Services
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.
WiserTrade. International trade database which includes 4 U.S. state level export series, U.S. exports and imports by customs district & by individual port, as well as EU, Brazil (by state and port), Canadian (by province and port), Chilean and Colombian (by region, port, and country of procurement), Chinese (by province), Mexican (by district), South African (by district and port), Taiwanese, and Japanese trade statistics. Also includes estimates of service trade by USA state by category since 2012.
World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS)
World Bank and UNCTAD data on trade, tariffs, and non-tariff measures. Requires registration.
Datamyne
Collects and organizes shipping manifests and customs records from government agencies and private companies to enable company and product level analysis for ocean freight shipments into U.S. ports. In addition, it documents shipping in and out of Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Vietnam, and many nations in Latin America and Europe. Dates differ by country but some data back to 2004. Includes summary data for various other nations. One can download up to 50,000 records at a time. The limit for the month for the University is 1 million records (which can be less than one day of trade between 2 countries). Please contact Bobray Bordelon before downloading in order to formulate search strategies.
Global Trade Alert. Includes more than 33,000 records of state acts taken since November 2008. Includes tariffs, capital control measures, anti-dumping, quotas, FDI measures, subsidies, and many other measures. Also includes share of imports or exports impacted by interventions.
Services Trade Restrictions Database. World Bank database that provides comparable information on services trade policy measures for 103 countries, 18 service sectors (covering telecommunications, finance, transportation, retail and professional services) and key modes of service supply.
OECD Maritime Transport Costs. Use in conjunction with the paper Clarifying Trade Costs in Maritime Transport which outlines methodology, data coverage and caveats to its use. 1991-2007.
Trade-and-Transport Dataset (experimental), annual, 2016 onward. Records international trade, in values and volumes, alongside the transport expenditure and transport work incurred for its transport, by pair of trading partners, commodity and mode of transport, annually, from 2016 to 2021. It displays the trade and related transport from 237 economies of origin to 170 economies of destination. These data are broken down by commodity group at the level of headings (4-digit codes) of the Harmonized System classification (2017 revision) and by mode of transport, differentiating between air, sea, rail, road, and others.
NBER Trade Data
Contains World Trade Database, 1970-1992 and the Compatible Trade and Production (COMTAP) database assembled by the OECD which contains production of manufactured goods in OECD countries and bilateral trade flows between these countries and all their trading partners over 1970-1985. Start with the instructions. Updated on the NBER site.
International Financial Statistics (1948-Present)
Reports values of imports and exports of main commodities in U.S. dollars and national currencies. Data can be found electronically on Sage Data (1948-Present) and Datastream International (1970-Present).
Statistical yearbooks, quarterlies, monthlies, web sites, etc.
Princeton University Library has a rich collection of statistical yearbooks, quarterlies, and monthlies from many countries. For current issues of statistical yearbooks, see the collection next to Ready Reference in DR. A backup collection on microfiche can be found in Microforms. To find other publications, perform a Guided Search in the Catalog by searching for "statistics" as a subject in the 1st box and the country as a subject in the 2nd box. Some titles can also be found in ProQuest Statistical Insight which contains many citations, under Foreign Trade, to country and International Government Organizations data.
EIU Country Reports. (Economist Intelligence Unit).
Provides analysis of major trends in the economies of the world. Includes forecasts for the upcoming year and evaluation of foreign trade data. Supplements provide background data on economic and political developments in each country. For prior to 1996, see the older issues in Firestone stacks. (titles changed often, use keyword searching in the Catalog)
UNCTADStat
Provides statistical data relevant to the analysis of international merchandise & service trade, economic trends, foreign direct investment, external financing sources including remittances, population and labor force, commodities, and maritime transport for individual countries and for economic & trade groupings. Data are presented in an analytical way, through the use of rank orderings, growth rates and other special calculations, with a view to facilitate their interpretation. The primary paper equivalent is UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics ((UN) HF91 .H35q). Each year receives a different Sales number. This title continues Handbook of International Trade and Development Statistics (1964-1995) located at HF91.H35 and also available on microfiche (RECAP) in IIS 4050-S1.
HF1371.A5665
IIS (4790-S7.2) (Microforms) International Trade Statistics. Detailed data on merchandise & services trade patterns worldwide. Monetary values expressed in U.S. dollars. 2000-Present. Title, format, and issuing agency have changed many times over the years. For 1996-1999, see World Trade Organization Annual Report (HF1371.A56) or (IIS 4790-S7). See HF499.I573 for 1991-1995 data (IIS 3480-S1). See HF497.C76 for 1952-1990 data (IIS 3480-S1).
HF1371.A56
World Trade Organization. Annual Report. Useful for not only the WTO's activities but summaries of changes in conditions in world trade and regional arrangements.
FAO STAT
Annual report of values of agricultural commodity imports & exports by country. Also reports consumption and volume indexes. Values in U.S. dollars. For 1947-1957, see part 2 of its predecessor Yearbook of Food Agricultural Statistics (HD1421.Y4). For 1958-2003, see FAO Yearbook. Trade. (HD1421.Y4) (IIS (3410-S7) (Microforms RECAP)). For 2004-2006, see FAO Statistical Yearbook (HD1421.F3667).
Oversize HA41.U59q and (UN) XVII, Series S
IIS (3080-S16) (Microforms RECAP)
Statistical Yearbook. (United Nations) 1948- Present. Section of external trade reports imports & exports by commodity class for selected trading partner, countries, and regions in U.S. dollars. Also includes volume and price indexes. Some data goes back to 1928. Also available on CD-ROM. Ask for DSS Study 5004. This series continues Statistical Yearbook of the League of Nations which covers the period 1926-1944.
Historical Data 1900-1960 on international merchandise trade statistics
Word trade, 1800-1938: a new dataset (Federico and Tena-Junguito) Contains an amazing bibliography for economic historical statistics.
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Exporter Dynamics Database. Provided measures of exporter characteristics and dynamics across 70 countries across all geographic regions and income levels. The Exporter Dynamics Database contains close to 100 measures covering the basic characteristics of exporters, their distribution by size, the diversification in their products and markets, their dynamics in terms of entry, exit and survival, and the average unit prices of the goods they traded. 1997-2014. |
HC57 .U66 (for issues prior to online availability)
Monthly Bulletin of Statistics. (United Nations) 1947- . Provides total imports and exports for individual countries in U.S. dollars and quantity indexes. Includes conversion tables. Monthly, quarterly, annual data. Preceded by Monthly Bulletin of Statistics (League of Nations) which is shelved in the same location. Some data dates back to 1913.
Lewis Library 8540.922.251 (1932+); RECAP 8540.922.25 (1882-1893, 1900-1931)
Minerals Yearbooks (U.S. Geological Survey)
Annual publication that reviews the mineral and material industries of the United States (including by state) and foreign countries. Contains statistical data on materials and minerals and includes information on economic and technical trends and development. Includes approximately 90 commodities and over 175 countries. Each country report includes sections on government policies and programs, environmental issues, trade and production data, industry structure and ownership, commodity sector developments, infrastructure, and a summary outlook.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
The World Trade Organization is the international organization responsible for administering WTO trade agreements and GATT. It serves as a forum for trade negotiations, handles trade disputes, and monitors national trade policies.
Federation of International Trade Associations (FITA)
Founded in 1984. Fosters international trade by strengthening the role of local, regional, and national associations throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada that have an international mission.
HE561 .S566 (Current volume in DR) 1994+
Shipping Statistics Yearbook. (Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics)
Reports on the shipping market, shipbuilding, and ports and sea canals.
Trade Costs Database (World Bank)
Estimates of bilateral trade costs in agriculture & manufactured goods for 1992-2016. Built on trade & production data collected in 77 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.
In addition, governmental organization homepages may provide the latest data.