Data Sources

WorldTradeFlows leverages the most comprehensive and reliable international trade databases to provide accurate, up-to-date global trade intelligence.

Primary Source: CEPII BACI Database

BACI - Base pour l'Analyse du Commerce International

The BACI database is developed by CEPII (Centre d'Études Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales), a leading French research center specializing in international economics.

Why CEPII BACI?

  • Reconciled bilateral trade flows: BACI reconciles the declarations of exporters and importers, providing more reliable bilateral trade data than raw sources.
  • Comprehensive coverage: 226 countries and territories from 1995 to 2023.
  • Product-level detail: Over 5,000 products classified at the 6-digit HS level.
  • Annual updates: New data releases each January covering the previous year.
  • Quality assurance: Sophisticated algorithms clean and harmonize discrepancies between mirror flows.

Data Processing

CEPII BACI starts with UN Comtrade data and applies several processing steps:

  1. Harmonization of quantity units across countries
  2. Evaluation of CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) rates
  3. Reconciliation of mirror flows using reliability indices
  4. Completion of missing data through economic modeling
  5. Conversion to consistent FOB (Free on Board) values

Original Source: UN Comtrade

The United Nations Comtrade database is the world's most comprehensive trade statistics database, maintained by the UN Statistics Division. It serves as the foundation for BACI's processed data.

UN Comtrade Features

  • Official trade statistics reported by 170+ countries
  • Monthly and annual trade data
  • Multiple classification systems (HS, SITC, BEC)
  • Both merchandise and services trade

Why We Use BACI Instead of Raw Comtrade

While UN Comtrade is comprehensive, it has limitations that BACI addresses:

  • Asymmetries: Country A's reported exports to Country B rarely match Country B's reported imports from Country A
  • Missing data: Not all countries report every year
  • Inconsistent units: Different countries use different quantity units
  • Valuation differences: Mix of CIF and FOB valuations

Data Coverage

Temporal Coverage

  • Historical data: 1995-2023
  • Update frequency: Annual (January)
  • Latest available: 2023 data
  • Next update: January 2025 (2024 data)

Geographic Coverage

  • Countries: 226 countries and territories
  • Trade flows: 45,000+ bilateral pairs
  • Regional aggregates: All continents and sub-regions
  • Special territories: Included separately

Product Coverage

  • Classification: Harmonized System (HS) 6-digit level
  • Products: 5,000+ product categories
  • Aggregation: Available at 2, 4, and 6-digit levels
  • Industries: All sectors from agriculture to high-tech

Data Quality & Reliability

Quality Assurance Process

  1. Mirror flow reconciliation: Comparing exporter and importer declarations
  2. Outlier detection: Identifying and correcting anomalous values
  3. Time series consistency: Ensuring logical progression year-over-year
  4. Cross-validation: Checking against other economic indicators
  5. Expert review: Manual verification of major trade relationships

Known Limitations

  • Services trade is not included (merchandise only)
  • Informal/underground trade is not captured
  • Some small island nations have limited reporting
  • Historical revisions may occur in subsequent releases

Citations & References

How to Cite This Data

Gaulier, G. and Zignago, S. (2010) BACI: International Trade Database at the Product-Level. The 1994-2007 Version. CEPII Working Paper, N°2010-23.

Additional References

For questions about our data sources or methodology, please contact us.