About UN Comtrade #
The UN Comtrade platform provides comprehensive annual and monthly trade statistics for global trade by product and trading partner. These statistics are useful for governments, academic institutions, research organizations, and businesses. It covers approximately 200 countries, representing over 99% of the world’s merchandise and services trade. You can access the data and metadata by visiting the URL: http://comtrade.un.org.
UN Comtrade is maintained by the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). Contact: comtrade@un.org.
Free and premium access #
UN Comtrade offers free access to all users. Registering a free account unlocks additional features, but usage is monitored for fairness.
Users can access premium data services by visiting https://shop.un.org/databases#Comtrade
Comparison between various access options are outlined at Subscription Plans
Fair Usage #
UN Comtrade is a publicly available database that anyone can access with or without registration. However, users are expected to consider others by avoiding excessive usage, such as web scraping via bots or registering multiple accounts to circumvent the daily limit. To ensure the well-functioning of data services, the following measures may be implemented:
- The rate limit for data queries and API calls per second, and the daily call quota, may be temporarily adjusted.
- Accounts of users who violate this fair usage policy may be banned, blocked or suspended for a week*.
- Some data services may be turned off until usage returns to a normal range.
* To avoid suspension, do not attempt to automate data extraction via web scraping of the UI. Instead, utilize the UN Comtrade APIs directly.
Removal of Inactive API Subscription Key #
Inactive API subscription keys will be removed due to a technical limitation on the number of keys. Keys with no API activity, accounts that have not logged into the UI, and suspended accounts are included. The period of inactivity will be determined dynamically to ensure the number of keys remains below the technical limit. For example, accounts inactive for more than a year or 6 months may be removed. If a subscription key is removed, a new one must be generated in the UN Comtrade Developer Portal.
Copyright Statement and Citation #
The United Nations copyright UN Comtrade data.
UN Comtrade data are provided for internal use only and may not be re-disseminated in any form without UNSD’s permission. The exemption (e.g., a small amount of data) is explained in the section on re-dissemination.
Regarding citation, refer to the data source as “UN Comtrade.”
Internal use #
Internal use is defined as only for use by staff members of the institutional unit for the benefit of the unit; internal use explicitly excludes data dissemination to any entity outside the institutional unit.
If UN Comtrade data are used within the boundaries of the definition of internal use, then permission from UNSD for its use is unnecessary, and a license to distribute with a fee will not apply.
Use of data within a joint project #
UNSD allows the sharing of UN Comtrade data beyond the internal definition only if it is shared with another institution within the framework of a joint project. In all other cases, permission from UNSD for sharing UN Comtrade data is necessary, and a license to distribute with a fee may apply.
License Agreement #
Use of UN Comtrade data is subject to a license agreement found at https://comtrade.un.org/licenseagreement.html, regardless of whether the data is accessed via free or premium access.
Disclaimer #
Use of UN Comtrade data is also subject to acknowledgment of the disclaimer contained in Read Me First (Disclaimer)
Definitions #
| Institutional unit | “An institutional unit is an economic entity that is capable, in its own right, of owning assets, incurring liabilities, and engaging in economic activities and in transactions with other entities.” “An institutional unit is an economic entity that is capable, in its own right, of owning assets, incurring liabilities, and engaging in economic activities and in transactions with other entities.” – System of National Accounts publication (SNA, 2008) |
