Distributive trade statistics

Items for information international merchandise trade statistics

The Statistics Division is developing a worldwide database for trade in services in cooperation with OECD to complement the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade) merchandise trade database.

Items for discussion and decision distributive trade statistics

In 2005, the Statistics Division established the Expert Group on Distributive Trade Statistics in order to obtain assistance and guidance during the revision of existing United Nations recommendations on distributive trade statistics.

Reconciliation of balance of payments and foreign trade statistics.

Source UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics, UNCTAD secretariat calculations based on UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) data.

Source UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics, UNCTAD secretariat calculations based on UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) data.

In 2004, the Statistics Division developed a multi year strategy for updating international recommendations on distributive trade statistics.

C. Conclusions of the Expert Group on Distributive Trade Statistics

Report of the Task Force on International Merchandise Trade Statistics

Strategy of the Statistics Division for updating international recommendations on distributive trade statistics and the status of its implementation

It was agreed that the Statistics Division should coordinate technical assistance in trade statistics focusing on methodology and implementation.

Prepared by the World Trade Organization (convener). In 2003, the Task Force on International Trade Statistics decided to change its name to Task Force on International Merchandise Trade Statistics to distinguish itself from the inter agency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services convened by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Only 73 countries confirmed that they compiled some distributive trade statistics.

It was agreed that the scope of distributive trade statistics should include wholesale trade, retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

There is no statistics kept according to gender in the Trade Unions.

The starting point for this development was the creation of the Statistic Division application for maintenance and dissemination of detailed commodity trade statistics, namely, the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade).

UNCTAD secretariat computations based on UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) data .

However, in many national statistical offices, distributive trade statistics are not sufficiently developed.

International Merchandise Trade Statistics Compilers Manual (Compilers Manual)4 was released in 2004.

In order that identical data may be disseminated to users of trade statistics, both Statistics Division and OECD databases will be permanently synchronized.

Moreover, a pilot version of the United Nations distributive trade statistics database for storage, processing and dissemination of distributive trade statistics will be developed and its outline will be presented to the Expert Group.

Since that session, the Commission has not had distributive trade statistics on its agenda.

The Interagency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services has agreed to update the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services by 2009 in order to maintain its usefulness and relevance for countries.

The World Trade Organization downloads data on its server and uses specific processing tools for the preparation of its annual trade statistics.

OECD Eurostat meeting of experts in trade in service statistics, Paris, 12 14 September 2006.

The Statistics Division is investigating possible linkage of DQAF with its questionnaire on countries' compliance with the second revision of International Merchandise Trade Statistics Concepts and Definitions.

There is a paucity of disaggregated and internationally comparable statistics on the direction of international services trade and on South South trade in particular.

In general, the survey confirmed that distributive trade statistics definitely need revisiting and careful re examination.

Depending on need, the Statistics Division and OECD may utilize other classifications for dissemination of trade data.

In this context, further improvement in the compilation, analysis and dissemination of internationally comparable distributive trade statistics is recognized by the Statistics Division as one of its immediate priority activities.

The newly established United Nations Expert Group on Distributive Trade Statistics held its first meeting in August 2005.

The Statistical Commission addressed issues of international merchandise trade statistics at its thirty fourth and thirty fifth sessions.

Report of the United Nations Statistics Division and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on the Joint United Nations OECD System for collection and processing of international merchandise trade statistics

According to China Customs Statistics, America s combined bilateral deficit in processing and ordinary trade in 2010 totaled 186 billion.

Considerable results have also been achieved on adding value to the dissemination of trade statistics by combining them with other analytically useful information, in the form of trade indicators.

They welcomed the initiative by the Statistics Division to revise international recommendations on distributive trade statistics and endorsed its programme of work, including its objectives, proposed actions and schedule for the revision process.

Both the Statistics Division and OECD would like to invite all international organizations to continue this fruitful cooperation so as to ensure further improvements in availability and quality of international merchandise trade statistics.

Other organizations such as FAO, OECD and the World Trade Organization revamped their statistics gateways to implement new online database applications.

(d) To support the work of the Statistics Division in building a worldwide database to store and disseminate distributive trade statistics in order to assist countries in making the most effective use of the compiled data, including measuring the structure and dynamic of their distributive trade on an internationally comparable basis.

(c) To stress that it is essential that the revision of distributive trade statistics is carried out in full consultation with national statistical offices and is seen as part of building an integrated economic statistics programme

OECD and the Statistics Division have agreed to include in their databases a general methodological note explaining those apparent discrepancies to users of trade statistics and are finalizing rules on uniform processing of the confidential data.

Interagency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services meetings, 21 and 22 February 2006, New York, and 15 September, Paris.

On 1 January 2006, COPRA will become the production system for the processing of trade data at the Statistics Division and OECD.