Trade Statistics
Sorry, this guide has moved.
No changes will be made to it after February 21, 2012.
Please see the Trade statistics information page on our new Business Statistics guide at:
http://libguides.kwantlen.ca/busistats
Classification Systems
Harmonised System (HS)
- maintained by World Customs Organization and used by over 170 countries for tariff purposes
- is the most common standard to measure trade between countries
- 'harmonised' means that the countries have agreed to consistently use this system for identifying goods
How many digits?
- up to 10-digits: the first 6-digits must follow standard; additional numbers may vary
- the longer the HS code, the more detailed the breakdown.
- Import figures are typically available in a greater degree of detail than exports
- HS Search Tools (coming soon)
- HS comparison chart for 4-, 6- 8- and 10-digit codes (coming soon)
Standard Industrial Trade Classification(SITC)
- 4-digits (approx. 800 commodities, eg. 054.4 is "Tomatoes, fresh or chilled")
- UN system used by international agencies
- Statistics Canada produces stats in this format for international comparisons
- Search tools: drill down by category in SITC, Rev. 4 | look up alphabetically in SITC, Rev. 3
BC
- Exports (monthly report from BC STATS, with annual supplements)
- dollar value of exports for the current month and year-to-date, plus previous three years
- also calculates BC's proportion of total Canadian exports
- provides stats on total exports to 11 countries and 9 trading regions
- more detailed statistics for 30 commodities (in 12 broad categories) exported to the United States, Japan, the European Union and all countries
Annual supplements:- Annual Summary:
- 10-year comparison of total value and market share of BC exports with 11 countries and 9 world regions
- more detailed figures for selected commodities exported to the US, Japan and Mainland China
- Market Share of United States Imports:
- 10-year comparison of BC's share of US imports of selected goods, compared with rest of Canada, Mexico, Chile, and China
- Exports by Province:
- for current year, for selected commodities: provides value and proportion of total Canadian exports to world, as well as value and proportion of Canadian exports to US.
- Provides 10-year comparison of the same for total provincial exports, not broken down by commodity
Canada
- International Trade (Statistics Canada)
- groups a variety of Statistics Canada sources into categories (such as 'Merchandise Exports')
By country
- Country Trade Profiles: Canada (200-2007)
- Brief 2-page profiles of two-way trade between Canada and key trading partners: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and the US.
- Country Statements, 2002-2007, Imports by Country
- Country Statements, 2002-2007, Exports by Country
- Detailed statistics (to the 6-digit HS code level) on Canada's trade with individual countries.
- Separate statement for each country.
- Provides dollar value and quantity (where applicable.)
ACCESS DETAILS: Both the Country Trade Profiles and the Country Statements are part of a collection of Statistics Canada data licensed for educational use. To download the Excel files, you need to go to the Equinox data system and enter the title into the search box.
By product
- Trade Data Online (TDO) [Industry Canada]
- Search TDO by product
- total exports, domestic exports, re-exports, total imports and trade balance
- does not have data on services
- can limit search to top 25 products if you want or choose specific products using the HS code number, a keyword, or by drilling down in a list of products
- generates graphs and/or reports for imports, exports, and balance of trade, with up to 5 years of statistics
- Search TDO by product
TDO provides very current (approx. 2-month lag) statistics on Canadian and provincial trade with over 200 partners at the 6-digit HS code level. You can search by product or by industry.
By industry
- Search TDO by industry
- Canadian (and provincial) apparent domestic market, manufacturing shipments, export intensity, domestic exports, re-exports, total imports and trade balance with over 200 trading partners
- uses North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
- can limit search to top 25 industries, or search for specific industry to NAICS 6-digit level (example of 6-digit NAICS code: 111422 is "Floriculture Production")
- generates graphs and/or reports with up to 5 years of statistics
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(example of 10-digit code: 0702002910 is "Tomatoes, Cherry, exc. process, fresh or chilled, certified organic")
- Trade Analyser [University of Toronto Data Library Service: CHASS]
- more detailed commodity breakdown than in Trade Data Online- Canadian Imports Data
- HS 10-digit level (example of 10-digit code: 0702002910 is "Tomatoes, Cherry, exc. process, fresh or chilled, certified organic")
- monthly data for 200 countries since 1988; about one year behind
- can specify province of clearance - Canadian Exports Data
- HS 8-digit level (example of 8-digit code: 07020010 is "Tomatoes, greenhouse, fresh or chilled")
- monthly data for 200 countries since 1988; about one year behind
- can specify province of origin
- Canadian Imports Data
(example of 8-digit code: 07020010 is "Tomatoes, greenhouse, fresh or chilled")
World Trade
- Trade Analyser (CHASS)
- World Trade Data
- tracks trade flows between member countries of the United Nations
- prepared by Statistics Canada using adjusted UN source data
- uses Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) (Rev. 2) 4-digit level; approx. 800 commodities, eg. 0544 is "Tomatoes, fresh or chilled"
- provides annual data (since 1980) for more than 180 trading partners; about 2 years behind
- also available on CD-ROM with title "World Trade Analyzer" [will download from DLI]
- World Trade Data
- International Trade Centre (UNCTAD/WTO)
- import and export statistics on commodities and merchandise trade (not services)
- organized by the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) at the 3-digit level, so less detailed than World Trade Data source above - World Trade Organization Statistics Database
- provides handy 2-page country profiles with key statistics, trade agreements, status of trade disputes
- also provides access to selected historical time-series data to track trends.
- includes useful tools like TradeMap and National and Sectoral Trade Performances by country, which show market share and rankings
Page maintained by: Chris Burns (Research Support & Data Services Librarian)
Updated: 16/12/2012
