4.8 Structure of merchandise exports
See Table 4.8 hereAbout the data
Definitions
Data sources
Data on trade in goods come from one of two sources: customs reports of goods entering an economy or reports of the financial transactions recorded in the balance of payments. Because of differences in timing and definitions, estimates of trade flows are likely to differ among sources. In addition, several international agencies process trade data, making estimates to correct for unreported or misreported data, which leads to other differences in the available data.
The most detailed source of data on international trade in goods is the COMTRADE database maintained by the United Nations Statistical Office (UNSO). The International Monetary Fund (IMF) collects data on total exports and imports as part of its balance of payments statistics. It also publishes customs-based statistics on international trade in its Direction of Trade Statistics.
The value of exports is recorded as the cost of the goods delivered to the frontier of the exporting country for shipment, the f.o.b. (free on board) value. Many countries collect and report trade data in U.S. dollars. When countries report in local currency, the UNSO applies the average official exchange rate for the period shown.
Countries may report trade according to the special or general system of trade (see Primary data documentation). Under the general system exports comprise outward-moving goods: (a) national goods wholly or partly produced in the country; (b) foreign goods, neither transformed nor declared for domestic consumption in the country, that move outward from customs storage; and (c) nationalized goods that have been declared from domestic consumption and move outward without having been transformed. Under the special system of trade, exports comprise categories (a) and (c). In some compilations categories (b) and (c) are classified as re-exports. Because of differences in reporting practices, data on exports may not be fully comparable across economies.
The data on total merchandise exports here have been taken principally from series reported in the IMF’s International Financial Statistics, supplemented by data published in the United Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, the IMF’s Direction of Trade Statistics, UNCTAD’s Handbook of International Trade and Development Statistics, and, in some cases, by World Bank staff estimates. Data on the structure of exports by major commodity groups are based on UNCTAD statistics. Because of delays in reporting and processing data, the most recent year for which shares of merchandise trade can be calculated is 1993.
• Merchandise exports show the f.o.b. value of goods provided to the rest of the world valued in U.S. dollars. They are classified using the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), series M, no. 34, revision 2.
• Fuels, minerals, and metals comprise the commodities in SITC section 3 (mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials), divisions 27 and 28 (crude fertilizers and crude minerals, excluding coal, petroleum, precious stones, metalliferous ores, and metal scrap), and division 68 (nonferrous metals).
• Other primary commodities comprise SITC sections 0, 1, 2, and 4 (food and live animals, beverages and tobacco, inedible crude materials except fuels, and animal and vegetable oils and fats), excluding divisions 27 and 28.
• Machinery and transport equipment comprise the commodities in SITC section 7.
• Other manufactures comprise SITC sections 5–9, excluding section 7 and division 68.
• Textile fibers, textiles, and clothing, representing SITC divisions 26, 65, and 84 (textiles, textile fibers, yarn, fabrics, and clothing and accessories), are a subgroup of other primary commodities and of other manufactures.
The principal sources of merchandise trade data are the UNSO’s COMTRADE database; the United Nations International Trade Statistics Yearbook; UNCTAD’s Handbook of International Trade and Development Statistics; and the IMF’s International Financial Statistics and Direction of Trade Statistics.