Checking Data Availability (Catalogs) in WITS

Checking data availability should be the very first task in WITS. It will help you define queries that will return results as expected.

Information on data availability is stored in WITS in individual database catalogs. Since some types of data are available in more than one database (tariffs in TRAINS and IDB for example), you may want to compare what is actually available in each database to choose your data source. Basically you will review the following points:

• Country coverage;
• Period coverage;
• Type of data;
• Level of detail.

To learn how to check data availability in each catalog see:

• UN COMTRADE
• TRAINS
• WTO IDB
• WTO CTS

Next: UN COMTRADE Catalog

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The World Bank, 2010