ct_trade: Get Bilateral Trade Data

In comtrade: Access and Analyse UN Comtrade International Trade Data

Get Bilateral Trade Data

Description

Download merchandise trade data from the UN Comtrade database. Returns bilateral trade flows between reporter and partner countries, optionally filtered by commodity code and trade flow direction.

Usage

ct_trade(
  reporter,
  partner = "0",
  commodity = "TOTAL",
  flow = c("X", "M"),
  year = NULL,
  frequency = "A",
  classification = "HS",
  cache = TRUE
)

Arguments

reporter	Character. Reporter country ISO3 code (e.g., "GBR", "USA", "AUS") or numeric M49 code. Use "all" for all reporters (limited to 1 per query on the free tier).
partner	Character. Partner country ISO3 code, or "0" / "W00" for World (all partners aggregated). Default "0" (World).
commodity	Character. HS commodity code(s). "TOTAL" for aggregate trade, "AG2" for all 2-digit chapters, or specific codes like "2709" (crude petroleum). Default "TOTAL".
flow	Character. Trade flow: "X" (exports), "M" (imports), "RX" (re-exports), "RM" (re-imports). Can be a vector for multiple flows. Default c("X", "M").
year	Integer. Year(s) to query (1962-present). Can be a vector. Maximum 12-year span per query on the free tier. Default: most recent available year.
frequency	Character. "A" for annual (default), "M" for monthly.
classification	Character. Commodity classification system. Default "HS" (latest Harmonized System revision). See ct_commodities() for available classifications.
cache	Logical. Cache results locally for 24 hours. Default TRUE.

Value

A data.frame with columns:

reporter

Reporter country code

reporter_desc

Reporter country name

partner

Partner country code

partner_desc

Partner country name

flow

Trade flow code (X, M, RX, RM)

flow_desc

Trade flow description

commodity_code

Commodity code

commodity_desc

Commodity description

year

Reference year

period

Reference period (year or year-month)

trade_value_usd

Trade value in US dollars

net_weight_kg

Net weight in kilograms

quantity

Quantity in supplementary units

quantity_unit

Supplementary quantity unit

Examples

op <- options(comtrade.cache_dir = tempdir())

# UK total exports to the world, 2023
ct_trade("GBR", year = 2023, flow = "X")

# US imports of crude petroleum from Saudi Arabia
ct_trade("USA", partner = "SAU", commodity = "2709", flow = "M",
         year = 2020:2023)

# Australia's top-level trade with China
ct_trade("AUS", partner = "CHN", year = 2023)

options(op)

comtrade documentation built on April 13, 2026, 5:07 p.m.