UK trade in goods diversification 2018 to 2022
This release looks at how changes in different data collection methods affect the count of commodity codes at 8-digit level in published trade data.
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The change in data sources used to compile the UK overseas trade in goods (OTS) has impacted various aspects of the published data. Prior to 2021 UK trade in goods data was collected monthly via the Intrastat survey for trade between the UK and the EU.
These data collection changes are important for users to be aware of, as the compilation of trade data for the OTS between the two data sources are slightly different.
This technical article reports on HMRC’s investigation into the impact of those changes, examining the number of unique commodity codes published within the OTS versus the raw Customs declaration data. This will help users to understand and ensure no misconceptions of how the data collection changes are presented in the OTS.