World Trade Organization International Trade Statistics

International Trade Statistics is the Number One source for data on world trade. Detailed tables provide comprehensive statistics on the world's leading exporters and importers, with information broken down by region and by country. Trade statistics are also provided by product and by commercial services. With data dating back to 1948, this publication provides unparalleled insights into the trends for world trade over the past six decades. Hundreds of statistical tables and highlight sections illustrating some of the key trends help to make International Trade Statistics an invaluable reference tool for businesses, analysts and anyone wanting to know more about international trade.

This publication gives an overview of world trade in 2000 and selected long-term trends. It provides comparable statistics of trade by: region; and sector, including agricultural products, mining products, manufactures and commercial services. Detailed tables are given in the appendices, which include data on merchandise trade by product, region and major trading partner for the major trading nations for the period 1998-2000.

"International Trade Statistics" is the WTO's annual compilation of global trade statistics. This report provides comprehensive statistics on trade in merchandise and commercial services, with an assessment of world trade flows by country, region, and main product groups or service categories. Some 250 tables and charts depict trade developments from various perspectives and provide a number of long-term time series. Major trade developments are summarized and discussed in the first part of the report under the Overview. Detailed trade statistics are provided in Appendix tables.

International Trade Statistics 2008 offers a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in world trade, covering the details of merchandise trade by product and trade in commercial services by category. Each chapter is introduced by a highlights section that identifies the most salient trends in the data and illustrates them with numerous charts and maps. There is also a methodological chapter that explains essential concepts and definitions used in compiling the statistics, and an appendix with detailed data on trade by region through 2007. This year's edition expands the coverage of merchandise trade, including new tables on exports and imports of food and fuels by selected economies. All data used in the publication, as well as additional charts not included in the book, can be downloaded from the WTO web site at stat.wto.org. With these additions, International Trade Statistics 2008 will continue to serve as an invaluable reference for researchers, policy makers, and anyone interested in international trade.

This publication contains updated recommendations on methodology for compiling international merchandise trade statistics adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission in March 1997. These recommendations are an essential references for trade statistics analysis and understanding. They take into account new developments in international trade, national practices of data compilation, new international agreements regarding customs procedures, and previously adopted revisions of methodology of national accounting and balance of payments statistics. They address basic issues such as coverage of statistics and time of recording, trade system, commodity classifications, valuation, quantity measurement, partner country, and reporting and dissemination. The publication also contains detailed lists of goods to be included and excluded from imports and exports; two tables which make it possible to determine, at a glance, how various categories of goods are treated in both the general and the special trade systems; and linkages between statistical concepts and international conventions regarding trade matters.

A comprehensive overview of the latest developments in world trade, covering the details of merchandise trade by product and trade in commercial services

The Manual sets out an internationally agreed framework for the compilation and reporting of statistics on international trade in services in the broad sense. It addresses the growing need, including in international trade negotiations and agreements, for more detailed, comparable, and comprehensive statistics on this type of trade in its various forms. The recommendations will enable countries to progressively expand and structure the information they compile in an internationally comparable way. The Manual conforms with and explicitly relates to the System of National Accounts 1993 and the fifth edition of the IMF’s Balance of Payments Manual. It is published jointly by the United Nations, European Union, IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, and World Trade Organization.