Skip to content
UN Comtrade Help Center

UN Comtrade Help Center

  • UN Comtrade website

Getting Started

  • Welcome to UN Comtrade
  • Read Me First (Disclaimer)
  • Use Cases
  • How to Access UN Comtrade data?
  • Subscription Plans
  • UN Comtrade Data Processing and Dissemination Pipeline
  • Policy on use and re-dissemination
  • Premium Subscribers
  • How to create an account
  • Acquiring API Subscription Keys
  • Who do we contact for support?
  • Can I book a demo of the UN Comtrade platform?

FAQ

  • Policy on use and re-dissemination
  • FAQs on Use and Re-dissemination
  • List of References & Parameter Codes
  • Exports from one country may not always align perfectly with the imports of its trading partners.
  • Bilateral asymmetries
  • Issues with UN Comtrade Website?
  • Annual totals vs sum of monthly data
  • Can I book a demo of the UN Comtrade platform?
  • Why are some converted datasets not accessible in the UI?
  • What is “SITC LTS”?
  • Why does the commodity description for some HS codes differ slightly from the official WCO version?
  • Trade valuation
  • How to Access UN Comtrade data?
  • Mode of Transport and Trade Routes
  • Does UN Comtrade provide buyer/supplier-level data?
  • How should I interpret and use quantity data in UN Comtrade?
  • What is bulk file download?
  • How do I use wildcards to query data?
  • How to use UN Comtrade via World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS)
  • What are the data sources for UN Comtrade?
  • Which new data items have been added to UN Comtrade datasets?
  • How to retrieve data for “World” exports to a country in UN Comtrade?
  • What is data preview?
  • What is data delivery?
  • Conversion factors and current/constant value
  • Supplementary Quantity Units
  • Are 6-digit commodity codes included in 4-digit commodity codes or are they separate?
  • Reported and Converted Data: Commodity Conversion Issues
  • Premium Trial Subscription
  • Who do we contact for support?
  • Showcases in Visualization Labs

Premium

  • Premium Subscribers
  • UN Comtrade Tools
  • Menu: Bulk Files

Metadata

  • Seaborne Trade Estimates – Archive
  • Country nomenclature and groupings
  • Historical Data 1900-1960 on IMTS
  • Correlation between ISIC and SITC codes (or Commodity and Industry)
  • Conversion factors and current/constant value
  • Which new data items have been added to UN Comtrade datasets?
  • What are the data sources for UN Comtrade?
  • Supplementary Quantity Units
  • Reporters and Partners
  • Taiwan, Province of China Trade Data
  • Data Conversion
  • Intermediate Goods in Trade Statistics
  • HS 2017 code 3002.19 and HS 2022 code 3822.19
  • HS 2007 code 2916.36
  • Monetary and Non-Monetary Gold in Trade Classifications (SITC, HS)
  • Areas not elsewhere specified
  • Why are China’s re-imports so high?
  • Second Partner Country
  • UN Comtrade and UNData
  • Tariffline product code description
  • Shuttle Trade
  • Trade with itself
  • Reporter country codes and their custom areas
  • Reported and Converted Data: Commodity Conversion Issues
  • Quantity unit information in detailed level data
  • Data Confidentiality in UN Comtrade
  • EU in UN Comtrade
  • Definition of luxury goods
  • Exports from one country may not always align perfectly with the imports of its trading partners.
  • Changes in trade reporting practices of countries with colonies
  • Reporting Period – Calendar Year
  • Measurement of iron trade, specifically in used cars
  • Leasing of aircraft – financial leasing
  • Hong Kong trade with China
  • Historical data on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (1900-1960)
  • Free Zones and Bunkers
  • Food provided on airlines – Transportation Services
  • Country Codes
  • China: Data availability before 1984
  • Italy: Change in Statistical Territory

Definitions

  • Trade valuation
  • Bilateral asymmetries
  • Special Trade System
  • Modes of Supply
  • Economic Territory and Statistical Territory
  • Distinction between Exports and Re-exports / Imports and Re-imports

Do more

  • UN Comtrade Tools
  • Developer tools for UN Comtrade Data

User Guide

  • How to create an account
  • Home page
  • Menu: Data
  • Menu: Data Availability
  • Menu: Bulk Files
  • Menu: Metadata
  • UN Comtrade Tools
  • UN Comtrade API
  • Showcases in Visualization Labs
  • Premium Trial Subscription
  • What is data preview?
  • What is data delivery?
  • What is tariffline data?
  • How to query data
  • How do I use wildcards to query data?
  • Downloading all data by period
  • How to use UN Comtrade via World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS)

Methodology and Manuals

  • Concepts and definitions of International Merchandise Trade Statistics
  • Concepts and definitions of Statistics of International Trade in Services
  • UN Comtrade Data Processing and Dissemination Pipeline
  • Compilation Methodology
  • Historical Data 1900-1960 on IMTS
  • IMTS Publication List
  • HS, SITC, BEC conversion and correspondence tables
  • Quantity and Weight Data in UN Comtrade

Trade in Services

  • Negative values in trade in services
  • Modes of Supply
  • EBOPS 2002: Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification
View Categories
  • Home
  • Docs
  • FAQ
  • Conversion factors and current/constant value

Conversion factors and current/constant value

1 min read

For both merchandise and trade in services statistics, conversion of values from national currencies into United States dollars is done by means of currency conversion factors based on official exchange rates. The conversion factors applied to the data are published quarterly in the UN Monthly Bulletin of Statistics: External trade conversion factors and also made available in a country’s metadata on UN Comtrade.


Q: I am using the data from the UN Comtrade database and I am assuming that the trade values given are in current dollar values. Is that the case or are they in constant values? Are the values given in current dollar values by reporters or are they converted into dollars by yourselves – if so at what exchange rate? How are exchange rates applied to convert to US dollars in UN Comtrade data and where can I find these exchange rates?

A: Trade values are in current dollar values. Some reported datasets are sent in US dollars, but most reported datasets are received in national currency. We convert these datasets to US dollars by applying the conversion factor from IMF/IFS. You can find these conversion factors in the metadata section on our website.


Q: I need to double check about exchange rates so I interpret the statistics correctly. When extracting trade data over a long period of time (in my case export figures over 10 years), is the exchange fixed or year-on-year? If fixed, where can I find the exchange rate used? However, as I understand it from the explanatory notes the exchange rates are year-on-year based on the rates stated for each country each year. If so, I notice that the exchange rates of EUR to USD is different for example Netherlands and Austria in 2003. Is this the result of the exchange rate being calculated by weighting the monthly exchange rate with the monthly volume of trade?

A:
 We use the US dollar series of the IFS, which is based on the monthly average of the official daily exchange rates.  The average annual exchange rates are obtained separately for imports and for exports by taking into account the monthly value of imports (or exports) and the monthly average of the official daily exchange rates. For more detailed information, please see attached document on the IFS exchange rate calculation.

Update as of 2023: Annual conversion factors are no longer calculated based on the average monthly exchange rates. We take the figures directly from IMF/IFS for both monthly and annual conversion factors.

Share This Article :
  • Facebook
  • X
  • LinkedIn
What is data delivery?Supplementary Quantity Units
© 2025 UN Comtrade Help Center • Built with GeneratePress