International Trade Statistics 2007

The new edition of “International Trade Statistics” has been restructured. It now contains chapters on developments in world trade, merchandise trade by product and trade in commercial services by category. A chapter on “metadata” (technical notes and explanations) explains the concepts and definitions used to compile the statistics. The comprehensive appendix section includes tables with full time series data up to 2006.

The content of this new edition has also been expanded to meet increasing demand for data on international trade in services. It includes information on individual service sectors and bilateral trade flows. The revamped presentation includes new table layouts and highlighted messages as introductions to each of the chapters.

On the WTO website, this publication and its data are now — or soon will be — available free electronically in three forms:

• Charts and tables from the book in spreadsheet (MS Excel) format

• Statistics in a searchable database

• By the end of November 2007, as an electronic version (pdf format) of the forthcoming book. Initially this is only available in English, but shortly in French and Spanish as well.

Printed versions will be distributed in early December and can be ordered on the WTO website. The price is 50.00 CHF.

 

Trade Profiles 2007

These “Trade Profiles” are about individual countries. They combine information on trade flows and trade policy measures for WTO members, observers and other selected economies. The information is retrieved from various WTO divisions and external sources and presented in a standardized format for quick reference. The indicators are divided into five categories:

• Basic economic indicators — population, gross domestic product, current account balance, etc.

• Trade policy indicators — specific WTO relevant information, including tariff binding information, import duties collected in total tax revenue, the number of dispute rulings (complainant, defendant), notifications outstanding and contingency measures in force.

• Merchandise trade indicators (customs-based statistics) — information on total trade flows broken down by broad product categories and major origins and destinations.

• Commercial services indicators (balance of payments based statistics) — trends in total trade flows and a breakdown by major components.

• Industrial property indicators — annual number of patents granted and marks registered in the name of residents and non-residents in the economy.

On the WTO website, the trade profiles are now available free electronically in two forms:

• As a complete set of profiles as downloadable Excel spreadsheets

• In a searchable database

Printed versions will be distributed in early December and can be ordered on the WTO website. The price is 30.00 CHF.