Trade Data
Trade data is one of the components of good trade policy formulation. Policy analysis is empty without a supporting information base. As part of tralac activities, we collect data and produces reports to support policy makers. On this page you will find tralac’s analysis of different countries and regional trading patterns.
- Country statistical agencies
- Trade and Industry Policy Strategies (TIPS)
- World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) database
- FAO
- International Trade Centre (ITC) Trade Map, Market Access Map
- Brasher Data (World Trade Atlas)
- Weaknesses of Trade Data
- Africa's Trading Relationship with China
- Africa's Trading Relationship with India
- Africa's Trading Relationship with Brazil
- First stop - country authorities responsible for collection
- Other data sources rely on these for their data
- But usually difficult to access data from these in Africa
- HS based trade data for SADC region
- Currently covers 11 countries.
http://wits.worldbank.org/witsnet/StartUp/Wits_Information.aspx
- Multi-country database
- Based on UN data submitted by each country
- Includes tariff data
- Presents results according to SITC, HS, ISIC and other classification systems
- Includes some simulation and analysis tools.
- Trade flows and tariff data can be extracted to be used in self-contained analysis and simulation tools or to be further computed outside WITS in spreadsheet or statistical software.
- Agricultural products only
- Database dates back to the 1960s.
International Trade Centre (ITC) Trade Map, Market Access Map:
http://www.intracen.org/marketanalysis/
- Requires registration
- Databases are free to users in developing countries
- Free access to databases will be provided on a case-by-case basis to universities and research institutions in OECD and EU countries.
Brasher Data (World Trade Atlas): http://www.gtis.com/gta
- Commercial source
- Subscribers access only
- Subscription per dataset/ full access options available.
- Trade data is never complete: Smuggling and non-reporting represent a serious problem in a number of countries. In addition, trade statistics, like any source of information, are not free of mistakes and omissions.
- Re-exports: Most countries include imports for re-exports and re-exports in their trade statistics. A low-income country may show up as an exporter of airplanes simply because its national airline has sold second-hand planes.
- Merchandise vs services trade: Detailed trade statistics are available only for merchandise trade and not for services, although the latter may account for a sizeable share of national exports.
- Misleading product groupings: Even at the lowest level of disaggregation, product groups in the trade nomenclatures do not necessarily reflect trade names and often contain a wide range of different products.
- Exchange rate fluctuations: Exchange rate fluctuations are not always properly recorded in international trade statistics. Values are normally aggregated over the period of one year in local currency and converted into US dollars.
- Mirror statistics: For countries that do not report trade data to the United Nations, partner country data is normally used - an approach referred to as mirror statistics. Mirror statistics are a second-best solution rather than having no data at all. But, they have a number of shortcomings when compared to the first-best solution of nationally reported data.
- First and foremost, they do not cover trade with other non-reporting countries. As a result, mirror statistics hardly cover South-South trade and would not be a suitable source for an assessment of intra-African trade.
- There is the problem of transshipments, which may hide the actual source of supply.
- mirror statistics invert the reporting standards by valuing exports in c.i.f. terms (i.e. including transport cost and insurance) and imports in f.o.b. terms (excluding these items).
AFRICA's TRADING RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA
- 2010
Over the last four years tralac has been monitoring the trading relationship between Africa and China. Provided here are a synopsis of the latest Africa-China trade data and an evaluation of the Africa-China trading relationship over the last four years. The trade statistics have been updated for the period from December 1995 to December 2009 inclusive. All the data supplied is expressed in US dollars and sourced from the Chinese version of the World Trade Atlas (www.gtis.com/gta). See also a short descriptive analysis of the relationship (Pdf 66.0Kb) and the individual spreadsheets (1593Kb) of the relationship.
- 2009
Over the past three years tralac has been monitoring the trading relationship between Africa and China. Here we provide the updated trade statistics for the period from December 1995 to December 2008 inclusive. All the data supplied is expressed in US dollars and sourced from the Chinese version of the World Trade Atlas (www.gtis.com/gta). See also a short descriptive analysis of the relationship (Pdf 143.0Kb) and the individual spreadsheets (1586Kb) of the relationship.
- 2008
tralac has been monitoring the trading relationship between the continent of Africa and China over the past two years. This summary builds on and updates earlier reports which are available on the tralac website. Data is sourced from the commercially obtainable World Trade Atlas source (www.gtis.com/gta) and is an update of the 2006 data. It is for December years, from 1995 to December 2007 inclusive, with all data expressed in US dollars. Read the summary.
- 2007
Read our update on "Africa's trading relationship with China" (Doc 27.0Kb). See also a short descriptive analysis of the relationship(Pdf 22.0Kb) and the individual spreadsheets of the relationship(Pdf 1.46Mb)
AFRICA's TRADING RELATIONSHIP WITH INDIA
India's influence in the global market is constantly increasing. Reports of this growing global influence have been recorded as far back as 2003 in work published by Goldman Sachs. The report, Dreaming With BRICs: The Path to 2050', suggests that the BRICs economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) together could be larger than the G8 in dollar terms in less than 40 years. It notes that despite India's small share of world trade at present, its economy could be larger than all but the US and China in 30 years.
Access to natural resources remains India's principal interest in the continent but it is not its only interest. India's economic interests are wider. This note links sequentially to, firstly, a short descriptive analysis of this relationship and then to the individual spreadsheets which are indexed to show the top 20 imports into India from Africa and the top 20 Indian exports to Africa as a group and for each and every African country individually. This data goes back over the last eight December years from 1999 to 2006 inclusive.
During 2006, Indian imports from Africa totalled US$12.6 billion while exports to Africa were US$9.5 billion. There has been a very significant increase in both imports and exports since 2003.
African exports are very heavily resource based or primary products: oil some 61 percent, followed by gold, phosphates, nuts and copper ores. By source, Nigeria is number one, followed by South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. Due to the abundance of oil reserves in Nigeria, Algeria and to a certain extent Egypt, oil can be expected to constitute the bulk of imports from these countries. In contrast, India's exports to Africa are much more diverse and concentrate upon a wide range of products.
In recent years, there has been speculation over a possible negotiation of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and India. The parties will be meeting in Walvis Bay, Namibia in mid-March to begin negotiations to conclude a free trade deal. Such an agreement will likely have different implications for the SACU states especially for the Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS), bearing in mind that South Africa is by far the biggest market in SACU (generating about 95% of the customs union’s GDP). It will, therefore, be South Africa with which India will be most interested to enhance economic ties. Read more.
AFRICA's TRADING RELATIONSHIP WITH BRAZIL
December 1997 to December 2008:
tralac has been monitoring the trading relationship between Africa and Brazil. Here we provide the updated trade statistics for the period from December 1997 to December 2008 inclusive. Click on the links to read more: descriptive analysis and individual spreadsheets.
December 1998 to December 2006:
Brazil’s importance in the global market has grown to the extent where it is playing a significant role in the world trading system; in the current round of WTO negotiations its influence is being strongly felt.
The growing focus on south-south trade is reflected in the initiative by the emerging economies of India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) aiming to strengthen ties among three key players in the developing world.
Brazil’s influence in Africa, although growing, is still very small. Access to natural resources remains Brazil’s principal interest in the continent but it is not its only interest. Its economic interests are wider. This note links sequentially to, firstly, a short descriptive analysis of this relationship and then to the individual spreadsheets which are indexed to show the top 20 imports into Brazil from Africa and the top 20 Brazilian exports to Africa as a group and for every African country individually. This data goes back over the last eight December years from 1998 to 2006 inclusive.
During 2006, Brazilian imports from Africa totalled US$8.1 billion while exports to Africa were US$7.5 billion. There has been a significant increase in both imports and exports since 2003.
African exports are very heavily resource based or primary products: oil some 88 percent, followed by fertiliser, phosphate chemicals, platinum and calcium. By source, Nigeria is number one, followed by Algeria, Angola, South Africa and Morocco. Due to the abundance of oil reserves in Nigeria, Algeria and to a certain extent Angola, oil can be expected to constitute the bulk of imports from these countries. Similarly, Brazil’s exports to Africa are also concentrated with sugar being one of its biggest exports.
Trade data analysis week held in Pretoria, South Africa, 16-20 November 2009
2009-11-25
Taku Fundira
Our Events
China - Africa merchandise trade for the December 2008 year
2009-09-09
Ron Sandrey
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