Article first appeared on www.wto.org.
The World Trade Organization issued on 2 November new expanded editions of two of its annual statistical publications, Trade Profiles and World Tariff Profiles. These new editions complement the WTO’s new flagship publication, World Trade Statistical Review, which was launched in July.
The revamped Trade Profiles provides a series of key indicators on trade in goods and services for 195 economies. For each economy, the data is presented in a handy two-page format, providing a concise overview of global trade. The profiles begin with a snapshot of the importance of trade for each economy — indicating its world ranking for trade in both goods and commercial services.
For trade in goods, data is provided by product category along with the major origins and destinations for these products. Also listed are the most exported and imported goods for each economy, broken down by agricultural and non-agricultural products. For trade in commercial services, data is broken down by services category, major origins and destinations, foreign affiliates statistics and foreign direct investment in services. The final part of the profile covers industrial property indicators, such as patent applications.
Pie charts and bar graphs make the data highly understandable, allowing for easy comparison between economies.
World Tariff Profiles, produced in cooperation with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), has been expanded to provide information on tariffs and non-tariff measures imposed by over 170 economies. The publication starts with summary tables showing the average tariffs imposed by each economy. This is followed by individual one-page profiles, providing a more detailed breakdown of tariffs. The profiles display the tariffs each economy imposes on its imports (by product group) as well as the tariffs it faces for exports to major trading partners.
A new section covers the use of non-tariff measures, which are becoming increasingly important in international trade. The special topic for this edition is the 2017 version of the Harmonized System for classifying goods, which will enter into force on 1 January 2017. A section on data sources and frequently asked questions forms the final part of the publication.
Both publications can be downloaded from the WTO website. French and Spanish versions will be issued in mid-November. Printed copies will be available at the end of November. The profiles can also be found in the Statistics Database which also contains merchandise trade data for 2015 by commodity group, selected origin and destination, and by regional integration arrangements.
WTO short-term data in both merchandise trade and commercial services is published on a daily, monthly and quarterly basis on the WTO statistics webpage.
