Database Content and Coverage

Databases are fed by collecting data from reporting countries on an annual basis. Missing information for a given country/period generally means the country did not report data for that specific time period.

• UNSD COMTRADE: contains annual trade flow information covering imports, exports and re-exports since 1962. UN COMTRADE contains trade value and quantity by product category in SITC (since 1962 and HS since 1988 (more details on nomenclatures in Understanding Nomenclatures).
• UNCTAD TRAINS: contains annual imports (values), tariffs structures (Bound, MFN Applied and Preferential tariffs, ad-valorem or not) and Non-Tariff Barriers information since 1988 at the National tariff line (NTL) level. The National tariff structure is country specific and may contain up to 15,000 distinct lines.
• WTO IDB/CTS: contains annual imports (values) and tariff structures (current and final Bound, MFN Applied and Preferential tariffs, ad-valorem or not) since 1996 at the National tariff line level for WTO member countries only. The National tariff structure is country specific and may contain up to 15,000 distinct lines.

Summary data coverage by database

	Data Type	Since	Countries	Details
UNSD COMTRADE	Imports, Exports, Re-Exports	1962	274	HS 6-digit
UNCTAD TRAINS	Imports	1988	70	NTL*
	Tariffs	1988	157	NTL
	Non-Tariff Barriers	1992	95	NTL
WTO IDB	Imports	1996	77	NTL
	Tariffs	1996	106	NTL
WTO CTS	Final Bound tariffs	1995	127	NTL

* missing NTL imports are completed with HS 6-digit level imports from UN COMTRADE.

Next: Understanding Nomenclatures

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