Trade glossary · measurement

Mirror trade statistics

Comparing one country's reported exports to a partner against the partner's reported imports from the same country. CEPII BACI reconciles the two using a weighted estimator.

Country A reports exports to country B; country B reports imports from country A. By accounting identity these should match, but they rarely do, due to timing differences, transit, valuation methods (FOB vs CIF), and reporting errors. BACI applies a quality-weighted reconciliation to produce a single agreed figure: countries with stronger customs systems get more weight when their reported value differs from the mirror.

Examples

  • Hong Kong-mainland China trade often shows large mirror gaps because of re-exports through Hong Kong.
  • Mirror differences for offshore financial centers can exceed 50% of the reported flow.

Related terms

FOB
Free On Board — a valuation rule for exports. Includes the cost of goods up to the point of loading at the exporter's port; excludes international freight and insurance.
CIF
Cost, Insurance and Freight — a valuation rule for imports that includes the cost of goods plus international shipping and insurance.
BACI
CEPII's reconciled bilateral trade dataset, the primary source behind World Trade Flows. Covers ~226 countries from 1995 to the most recent year, at HS6 detail.
UN Comtrade
United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database — the world's largest repository of customs declarations. Member states submit annual figures; CEPII BACI is built from these submissions.