There are various ways to access UN Comtrade data, as explained below. More details are outlined in the Subscription Plans. Regardless of how to access it, everyone has access to every data point in UN Comtrade (that’s in billions); the main difference is the download limit when accessing them. To illustrate, the merchandise trade data of the USA in 2024 has around 1.2 million records, see below how they can be accessed using various options.

Anonymous Access #

Users can preview the data through the UI but cannot download it. You can also access it via anonymous public APIs. Please note that the rate limit is applied more strictly for anonymous access.

With this option, the USA 2024 data can be downloaded by querying the database a minimum of 2391 times.

Accessing With Registration #

To download the data, users need to register and create an account. Registered users can access additional features, such as saving the query or code list, and obtaining the data through the UN Comtrade API. There are two kinds of registration: free and premium.

Free Tier #

By registering (or creating UN Comtrade account), users can preview and download millions of records. They have access to the basic APIs.

With this option, the USA 2024 data can be downloaded by querying the database at a minimum of 12 times.

Premium Tier #

For users with more extensive data requirements and features, a premium subscription to UN Comtrade may be a good option. In addition to the basic features, premium subscribers can access additional features. Visit shop.un.org to subscribe.

With this option, the USA 2024 data can be downloaded by querying the database once (using bulk files or data delivery) or at a minimum 5 times using regular download.