Library & Cultural Services: Economics: Trade. International Economics

Trade. International Economics. FDI

Alan Deardorff Homepage
Helpful definitions & references related to international trade.
Cato Institute Center for Trade Policy Studies
Correlates of War International Trade 1870-2014

fDi Markets
fDi Markets is a respected & comprehensive database of crossborder investments, covering all countries and sectors worldwide. It offers granular (deal level) data on investment projects down to local level, including job & investment value data for each project.
ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS: Use organisation code: ESSEX and your Essex email address. You will then be sent a link via email to access the content.

GATT Digital Library
Around 60 000 full text documents produced by GATT from 1947 to 1994, covering all aspects of international trade.
Global Preferential Trade Agreements Database (GPTAD)
Information on PTAs around the world, including agreements not notified to the WTO. PTAs can be sorted by membership, date of signature, in-force status, and other key criteria. It is also possible to sort agreements by type such as anti-dumping, import and export restrictions and tariffs. Note: does not appear to have been updated since 2006
Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP)
Well-known & long-established (1993) project led by Purdue University. The GTAP Data Base contains complete bilateral trade information, transport and protection linkages. The GTAP Data Base represents the world economy and is utilised as a key input into most applied general equilibrium analysis of global economic issues. Current & pre-current versions of the database need to be purchased, but older editions are freely available
IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)
Free access to IMF trade statistics for all countries 1980- via UK Data Service. Figures for the value of merchandise exports and imports between each country and all its trading partners. Total bilateral and multilateral exports and imports are aggregated at national or regional group level. Also available as from IMF (annual data from 1947, monthly or quarterly from 1960)
International Centre for Trade & Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
Independent NGO based in Geneva. Full text of some publications is available
Market Potential Index
Initiated in 1996 with a focus on emerging markets & expanded in 2016 to a wider range of countries, the MPI rankings are a project of Michigan State University International Business Center
NBER-UN Trade Data 1962-2000
OECD-WTO Balanced Trade in Services (BaTiS)
Bilateral trade in services for 190+ countries, 1995-2012.
Our World in Data - International Trade
Useful introduction to international trade with links to data sources.
Peterson Institute for International Economics
(formerly the Institute for International Economics)
Trading Consequences
International collaborative project detailing 19th century publications from around the British empire relating to commodities traded (full text available in some cases).
UN Commission on International Trade Law(UNCITRAL)
UN Comtrade
The most comprehensive trade database of commodities and products for countries of the world (1962-), effectively supersedes:
International trade statistics yearbook 1983- HF 1.Y4 and Online (1992-)
Continuation of: Yearbook of international trade statistics 1950-1982. HF 1.Y4
For great visualisations based on Comtrade data see the Atlas of Economic Complexity from the Center for International Development, Harvard University.
UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development)

Annual time series data back to 1970 is available from key database UNCTADstat

Major publications include:
Least developed countries report (UNCTAD) 1984-2012 HC 61.U6 and Online (1996-)
Trade and development report 1982-2012 HF 1416 and Online (1996-)
UNCTAD handbook of statistics Online (2002-)
World investment report 1996- HG 4538.W6 and Online (1991-)

World Bank Trade website

Also various databases, including:
World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) - data on international trade, tariff and non-tariff measures. Uses UN Comtrade data (you must register in order to access data)
TCdata360 database which offers current & historical data collected from many sources covering trade (annual), investment, innovation
LPI (Logistics Performance Index) for benchmarking country trade logistics performance
International Trade Costs (World Bank/ESCAP). Data from 1995-2014 for countries around the world
Doing business in ... comparative data (and publications) 2002- on business regulations & their measurement for countries around the world

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Including International Trade & Tariff Data and Trade Monitoring Database which provides detailed information on trade measures implemented by WTO members and observers since October 2008.
Interesting Trade Cost Index database looking at changes in trade costs for 43 economies 2000-2018, with data at sector level
Also Research Database on Trade & Gender

Flagship publications:
World trade report Online (2003-)
World trade statistical review Online (2016-) continuation of: International trade statistics Online (2001-2015)

Supply Chain

Clean Clothes
Campaign to improve working conditions, with some useful publications
Global Fashion Agenda
Includes annual report on social & environmental sustainability - Pulse of the Fashion Industry
Open Apparel Registry
Developed by supply chain transparency platform Sourcemap, with data from organisations like the Fair Factories Clearinghouse and brands such as Gap and Nike. Aims to map the location of clothing factories and brands worldwide.
Sustainable Apparel Coalition
Industry body seeking sustainable production. Developed the Higg Index to measure social & environmental impact across the value chain