How to check European import and export data? A guide to official data from 33 European countries!

1. EU unified data query platform

1. Easy Comext (EU trade data comprehensive query tool)

• Official website : https://easycomext.com/

• Function : Provides import and export data for the 27 EU countries and major global trading partners, supports filtering by commodity code (HS6/HS8), country, and time range, and can generate visual reports.

• Practical steps :

• Register an account and log in, then select "Free Access" to obtain basic data permissions.

• Enter the HS code (e.g. 8517.62) in the search bar and select "EU-27 as Partner" to query EU import data as a whole.

• Click "Custom Report" to export an Excel spreadsheet containing dimensions such as trade volume, major source countries, and price trends.

2. Eurostat API (COMEXT)

• Official website : https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/comext

• Function : Obtain official EU trade statistics through the API interface, support JSON/CSV format output, suitable for developers to integrate into their own systems.

• Practical steps :

• Visit the API documentation and apply for an API key (proof of business qualifications is required).

• Use the following API example to query Germany's 2024 machinery product import data:

• The results include the trade value, quantity and major supplier rankings of 84 mechanical products imported by Germany from around the world.

3. EU Tariff Query Platform (Taric)

• Official website : https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp?Lang=en

• Function : Query EU tariff rates, applicability of preferential agreements (such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)) and anti-dumping measures on specific goods.

• Practical steps :

• Enter the HS code (e.g. 6109.10) and select "Tariff rates" to view the EU Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rates.

• In the "Preferential arrangements" column, check "China" to see whether the preferential tariff rate under the China-EU Agreement applies.

• Click "Anti-dumping measures" to check whether there are anti-dumping duties against Chinese products.

2. Query Guide for Official Data from 33 European Countries

1. United Kingdom (UK)

• UK Trade Info (HMRC)

  • Official website : https://www.uktradeinfo.com/

  • Function : Provides monthly data on UK trade in goods, supports custom table generation, and can filter by commodity code (UK Taric), trading partner, and trade mode (general trade/processing trade).

2. Germany

• Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)

  • Official website : https://www.destatis.de/

  • Function : Provides German import and export data by state and company size, and supports queries by HS code, trading partner country, and mode of transport (sea/air).

• German Customs (Zoll)

  • Official website : https://www.zoll.de/

  • Function : Provides transaction-level import data (subscription required), including importer name, address, product description, and certificate of origin number.

3. France

• Douanes françaises (Customs)

  • Official website : https://www.douane.gouv.fr/

  • Function : Provides monthly French import and export statistics, supports filtering by HS code, trading partner, and mode of transport, and can download reports in PDF format.

• INSEE (National Statistics)

  • Official website : https://www.insee.fr/

  • Function : Provides French import and export data by industry, including financial indicators such as corporate turnover and profit margin.

4. Italy

• Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli

  • Official website : https://www.adm.gov.it/

  • Function : Provides Italian customs statistics, supports query by HS code, trading partner, and port, and can generate Excel tables.

• ISTAT (National Statistics)

  • Official website : https://www.istat.it/

  • Function : Provides import and export data of Italy by region, including analysis of the trade share of small and medium-sized enterprises.

5. Spain

• Agencia Tributaria (Customs)

  • Official website : https://www.agenciatributaria.gob.es/

  • Function : Provides monthly import and export data for Spain, supports filtering by HS code, trading partner, and time range, and can download CSV files.

• INE (National Statistics)

  • Official website : https://www.ine.es/

  • Function : Provides Spanish import and export data by industry, including terms of trade index (price terms of trade, income terms of trade).

6. Netherlands

• CBS StatLine

  • Official website : https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/

  • Function : Provides data on Netherlands imports and exports by commodity and mode of transport, and supports interactive chart generation.

7. Belgium

• Statbel (Statistics)

  • Official website : https://statbel.fgov.be/

  • Function : Provides Belgian import and export data by commodity and mode of transport, and supports Excel export.

• ABH-ACE (Customs Database)

  • Official website : https://abh.ace.fgov.be/

  • Function : Provides Belgian customs transaction-level data (subscription required), including importer contact information and declared values.

8. Sweden

Statistics Sweden (SCB)

Official website: https://www.scb.se/

Function: Provides data on Swedish imports and exports by commodity and trading partner, and supports API calls.

9. Denmark

Statistics Denmark (DST)

Official website: https://www.dst.dk/

Function: Provides monthly import and export data for Denmark, including enterprise size distribution and trade credit information.

10. Finland

Tulli Tilastot (Customs Statistics)

Official website: https://www.tulli.fi/en/statistics

Function: Provides Finnish import and export transaction-level data (registration required), including the origin of goods and the name of the importer.

11. Poland

GUS (Central Statistical Office)

Official website : https://www.stat.gov.pl/

Function : Provides data on Poland's imports and exports by commodity and region, including the proportion of trade of small and medium-sized enterprises.

12. Hungary

KSH (Central Statistical Office)

Official website : https://www.ksh.hu/

Function : Provides Hungarian import and export data by commodity and trade mode, and supports filtering by enterprise type (foreign/domestic).

13. Greece

ELSTAT (National Statistics)

Official website : https://www.statistics.gr/

Function : Provides Greek import and export data by commodity and mode of transport, including statistics on seaborne container volume.

14. Cyprus

CYSTAT (Statistical Bureau)

Official website : https://cystat.gov.cy/

Function : Provides Cyprus' import and export data by commodity and trading partner, including analysis of the proportion of re-export trade.

15. Switzerland

Federal Customs Administration (TARES)

Official website : https://www.ezv.admin.ch/ezv/en/home/statistics/tares.html

Function : Provides Swiss import and export data by commodity and trading partner, and supports filtering by transport mode (road/rail).

16. Turkey

TurkStat (Statistics Bureau)

Official website : https://data.tuik.gov.tr/

Function : Provides Turkey's import and export data by commodity and trading partner, including tariff rate query function.

17. Austria

• Statistik Austria

• Official website : https://www.statistik.at

• Function : Provides monthly data on Austrian imports and exports by commodity and trading partner, supports HS6 code query and special analysis of intra-EU trade .

18. Ireland

• Central Statistics Office (CSO )

• Official website : http://www.cso.ie ​ ​ ​

• Function : Provides annual reports on Ireland's foreign trade statistics, including merchandise trade data classified by SITC and analysis of major trading partners .

• Irish Customs ( Revenue.ie )

• Official website : http : //www.rev e nue.ie ​

• Function : Provides tariff rate query, VOC query and import and export compliance guide. You need to register a corporate account to obtain detailed trade data .

19. Portugal

• INE (National Institute of Statistics )

• Official website : http://www.ine.pt ​ ​ ​

• Function : Provides regional data on Portugal's imports and exports, with featured sections including "Foreign Trade Dependence Index" and "Small and Medium Enterprises Trade Share" analysis .

• Portuguese Customs (AT )

• Official website : htt ps:// www . at.gov.pt

• Function : Provides real-time customs clearance data query, requiring enterprise digital certificate login to obtain transaction-level information .

20. Slovakia

• Slovak Statistical Office

• Official website : https://www.slovak.statistics.sk ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

• Function : Provides Slovakia's import and export commodity data, and supports queries by EU internal/external trade classification .

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21. Russia

22. Belarus

• National Statistics Committee

• Official website : https : //www.belstat.gov.b y ​

• Function : Provides Belarus's foreign trade statistics yearbook, including trade data with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union .

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26. Serbia

• Customs Administration of Serbia

• Official website : http : //www.cari na.rs

• Function : Provides monthly import and export statistics for Serbia, supporting queries by commodity code and trading partner .

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27. Montenegro

• MONSTAT (National Statistics Office )

• Official website : http://www.monstat.org/eng ​ ​ ​ ​

• Function : Provides basic statistics on Montenegro's foreign trade, including major commodity categories and rankings of trading partners .

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28. Kosovo

• Kosovo Customs

• Official website : http://www.dogana-ks.org

• Function : Provides basic import and export statistics, mainly covering trade with EU countries.

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29. North Macedonia

• National Bureau of Statistics

• Official website : https://www.stat.gov.mk

• Function : Provides import and export data by commodity and trading partner, supporting HS2022 coding standards .

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30. Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Bosnia and Herzegovina Customs

• Official website : http://www.uino.gov.ba

• Function : Provides basic foreign trade statistics, focusing on trade in mechanical and electrical products and agricultural products .

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31. Liechtenstein

• Liechtenstein Customs

• Official website : http://www.llv.li/#/1974

• Function : Provides trade data with Switzerland and the EU, using the Swiss HS coding standard .

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32. Faroe Islands

• Statistics Faroe Islands

• Data source : Statistics Denmark shared database

• Function : Provides basic statistical data on fishery product exports and consumer goods imports .

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33. Monaco

• Monaco Statistics Office

• Official website : https://www.statsmonaco.gouv.mc

• Function : Provides limited foreign trade statistics, mainly supplemented by French customs data.

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3. Core skills of data query

1. HS code accurate positioning

   • Use HS6 codes (such as 8517) to query broad categories of goods, and HS8 codes (such as 8517.62) to obtain detailed product data.

   • Some EU countries (such as Germany) use the extended HS code (HS10), so please be careful to match it when searching.

2. Trading partner screening strategy

   • When inquiring about intra-EU trade, select "EU-27 as Partner"; when inquiring about EU-China trade, select "China" as the partner country.

   • For re-export trade, the "Country of Origin" field can be used to distinguish the country of origin and the transit country.

3. Time Series Analysis

   • Compare the data from 2023 to 2024 and identify growth/decline trends (e.g. Germany’s machinery imports to China increased by +12% year-on-year).

   • Use the "Moving Average" function to smooth out short-term fluctuations and highlight long-term trends.

4. Data verification and cross-checking

   • Compare Eurostat data with data from member states’ official websites to ensure consistency (e.g. the difference between French customs data and INSEE data should be less than 5%).

   • For outliers (such as a sudden surge in the import volume of a certain commodity in a certain country), analysis needs to be combined with policy changes (such as tariff adjustments) or statistical caliber adjustments.

4. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Data update frequency

   • The EU unified platform (Easy Comext/Eurostat) usually releases the latest data 2-3 months later, and the update speed of member states' official websites varies (Germany and the Netherlands are faster, and Eastern European countries are slower).

2. Data permissions and fees

   • Basic statistics (such as trade volume and quantity) are usually free, while transaction-level data (including importer information) require a paid subscription (approximately 500-2000 euros/year).

   • Some countries (such as Italy and Spain) offer free trial accounts, allowing users to apply for 7-day temporary access rights.

3. Language barrier management

   • Official websites of non-English speaking countries usually provide English interfaces (e.g. click "EN" to switch to Destatis in Germany), and data fields can be understood with the help of Google Translate.

4. Data compliance

   • The EU GDPR stipulates that commercial information such as company names and addresses must be authorized before use. It is recommended that they only be used for market analysis and avoid direct marketing.

5. Professional data acquisition

• The official data sources listed above are only suitable for macro-trend analysis, market research, and preliminary screening. For more detailed and timely enterprise-level bill of lading data, such as specific importer/exporter names, bill of lading numbers, detailed commodity descriptions, quantity and weight, etc., you must use a paid data platform (such as AB Ke Customs Data, https://www.cnabke.com/customsData.html , which offers a free trial).