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Dataset description and subject overview

The OECD International Trade by Commodities Statistics (ITCS) contains annual time series data from 1961 onwards on foreign trade of the OECD's Member countries and selected non-OECD countries (China, Hong Kong China and Chinese Taipei). It provides detailed data on commodity and partner country in value and in quantity. The ITCS is split into five databases:

1. International Trade by Commodity - Harmonized System 1988
2. International Trade by Commodity - Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Revision 2
3. International Trade by Commodity - SITC Revision 3
4. International Trade by Commodity - Harmonised System 1996
5. International Trade by Commodity - Total Trade and Trade Conversion Factors

**ESDS International provides access to the ITCS - Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Rev.2 database only.**

Background to the OECD ITCS classification by commodity systems

Since 1988, OECD receives data according to Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) or in a more disagregated level. Data are then converted into Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Rev. 3 and Rev. 2. From 1991, data may be obtained according to SITC Rev. 2, SITC Rev. 3. From 1996, data may be obtained according to SITC Rev. 2, SITC Rev. 3 or HS 96. However, it should be noted that if it is easily feasible to convert data from a recent revision to an older one, the conversion from SITC Rev. 2 to SITC Rev. 3 is quite delicate, if not impossible. Consequently, to obtain a consistent time series, one should carefully choose which revision to use. This is why from 1961 to 1987 data are only available in SITC Rev. 2, which are contained in the OECDs Historical series in SITC Rev. 2 from 1961 to 1990.

The SITC has been regularly revised to take into account the structural changes of the market according to the appearance of new commodities and the need of more detailed statistics on some commodity groups. OECD provides two versions : the SITC Revision 2 and the SITC revision 3. The first version (Revision 1) was introduced in 1960. The second version (SITC Rev. 2) containing 2582 products was introduced and adopted by most Member countries in 1978. The third version (Rev. 3) which contains 4346 products, has been used from 1988 onwards, except the United States and Turkey which have adopted data in Rev. 3 only from 1989 onwards.

An official version of the HS, was instituted in 1988 (HS 88). The HS has been revised in 1996 (HS 1996) and in 2002 (HS 2002) to take into account new trends in the composition of international trade. The HS is broken down by chapter (two-digit) , by heading (four-digit) and by subheading (6 digit). SITC rev. 3 was developed in 1988 in the same way as the HS, this is why it follows the structure of the HS, so that the smallest SITC units are defined by HS subheadings. Since 2002, data are collected according to the HS 2002 and then converted to older classifications, which might affect the allocation of some commodities.

Both the HS and SITC classifications serve the same purpose - to provide extensive commodity trade data for example on Trade negotiations, monitoring of economic trends, monitoring of various flows of goods, balance of payments, national accounts, market analysis, supply balance sheets, budgetary control.

The ITCS contains three type of series: i) Data for individual reporter country (each reporter country is individually presented in one table in Beyond 20/20), ii) Trade conversion factors for all OECD Member country (see below conversion rates) and iii) Total trade, imports and exports for each OECD member country

From 1 January 1999, the conversion rates for the Euro-zone countries from national currencies into USD are calculated using the Euro/USD exchange rate and the fixed Euro/national currency exchange rates.

Euro Conversion rates

• Austria (Schilling) 13.7603
• Belgium (Belgian franc) 40.3399
• Finland (Markka) 5.94573
• France (French franc) 6.55957
• Germany (Deutsche Mark) 1.95583
• Greece (Drachma) 340.750
• Ireland (Irish Pound) 0.787564
• Italy (Italian Lira) 1936.27
• Luxembourg (Luxembourg franc) 40.3399
• Netherlands (Netherlands guilder) 2.20371
• Portugal (Portuguese escudo) 200.482
• Spain (Spanish peseta) 166.386

User Documentation

The OECD ITCS Definitions and Country Notes provides information on series definitions, reporting country notes, a list of partner countries and country zones.

Nb. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to read this document as it is in pdf format. You can download it free of charge from the Adobe website.

The OECD ITCS hosted by ESDS International is delivered by Beyond 20/20 WDS:

• About Beyond 20/20
• A Guide to accessing OECD Statistics (Main Economic Indicators) via Beyond 20/20 WDS

Accessing the OECD ITCS Statistics

To access the ESDS International macro-economic datasets you must be a user from a UK higher or further education institution. We cannot provide data to users outside of this community due to the data re-distribution license agreements we have with our data providers. If you are a member of a UK higher or further education institution access to the macro-economic datasets is provided free of charge.

Access to data requires ESDS registration and uses the federated access management authentication system. Registration is a simple online process - go to the How to Register web page at www.esds.ac.uk/aandp/access/access.asp to begin the process.

Once you have registered with ESDS and attempt to access one of the macro-economic datasets, you will automatically be prompted to agree to additional dataset specific conditions if they apply.

Countries in the OECD ITCS

Reporting countries : OECD Member countries plus China, Hong-Kong-China, and Chinese Taipei and EU15

The OECD publishes data received directly form the Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT) under the name EU15 – Extra EU, which excludes Intra-EU trade (cf. definitions: Differences between OECD statistics and Community statistics of Eurostat).

Partner countries (260 different countries)

Please see the OECD ITCS Definitions and Country Notes for reporting country notes and a list of partner countries and country zones.

Periodicity and Time Range

The OECD International Trade by Commodities Statistics contains annual data and runs from 1961 onwards. See the new data page for the latest update information.