Methods

Source data

Every number on this site is read from pre-computed JSON artifacts derived from CEPII BACI, a reconciled version of UN COMTRADE bilateral trade statistics. Flows are classified under the HS92 (Harmonized System 1992) product nomenclature for all years, 1995–2024, which keeps product categories comparable across the full span. The frontend performs no analytics of its own: it fetches published artifacts and displays them.

Units

Monetary values are millions of US dollars, nominal — not adjusted for inflation. Part of any long-run increase reflects rising prices rather than rising volumes. Percentages are stored in percent (a value of 15.73 means 15.73%). Partner-concentration HHI (Herfindahl–Hirschman index) values are on a 0–1 scale, where higher means trade is concentrated among fewer partners.

Goods, not services

BACI covers merchandise (goods) trade only. Services trade — software, finance, tourism, royalties — is not measured here, which matters when comparing economies that are comparatively stronger in services.

Origin and destination, not shipping routes

Flows are exporter/importer attributions. They do not observe the physical path goods travel, so chokepoint analyses (for example, Strait of Hormuz exposure) are origin-share proxies, flagged as such wherever they appear.

Country codes and the map

BACI uses its own numeric country codes, which can differ from ISO numeric codes (the USA is 842 in BACI but 840 in ISO). This site joins everything on ISO3 alpha codes, and joins map geometry through a published ISO3 → ISO-numeric crosswalk — never on BACI codes.

Country continuity

Some reporters changed definition during 1995–2024; the dataset stitches predecessor entities into their successors (for example Belgium–Luxembourg into Belgium, and Sudan before partition into Sudan) so long-run series remain continuous. Taiwan is recorded in BACI within the aggregate “Other Asia, nes” (section S19 in some story groupings); it is kept in world totals but is not a routeable country page, and stories that touch semiconductors flag this explicitly.

Build provenance

The published dataset is version 1, generated 2026-06-08, containing 13,698 artifacts. Each artifact carries its own generatedAt stamp, shown in page footers.