UN Comtrade

What is UN Comtrade?

UN Comtrade is the UN’s official database for international trade statistics. It contains detailed information on the import and export of goods and services between countries worldwide, covering both historical and current trade flows.

Each year, nearly 200 countries submit their international trade statistics to the United Nations Statistics Division, categorised by product groups and partner countries. The system contains annual data from 1962 and monthly data from 2000.

Trade data are standardised into a comparable format, and all values are converted into US dollars based on exchange rates reported by individual countries.

The data are freely accessible, but limits apply on the amount of data you can download at a time (50,000 records per query – no limits on the number of queries).

When is UN Comtrade useful?

UN Comtrade contains raw data and no explanatory texts. It is therefore well-suited as a primary source for assignments and analyses.

• Analyse markets and identify trade patterns between specific countries or regions.
• Examine which countries are major exporters or importers of certain goods.
• Support assignments with reliable quantitative data on global trade.

Standardised product classifications

It is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the classification systems. We have created a guide with more information on nomenclatures and industry codes. UN Comtrade uses the following two:

• SITC (Rev.1 from 1962, Rev.2 from 1976 and Rev.3 from 1988)
  HS, Harmonized System (from 1988 with new versions in 1996, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022)

Data visualisations

View examples of data visualisation used to monitor global trade.