Federal Statistical Office

G3 Foreign Trade

Graurheindorfer Str. 198, 53117 Bonn

International trade in goods statistics (ITGS) published by Eurostat measure the value and quantity of goods traded between the EU Member States (intra-EU trade) and goods traded by the EU Member States with non-EU countries (extra-EU trade). ‘Goods’ means all movable property including electricity. ‘European’ means that the statistics are compiled based on the concepts and definitions set out in EU legislation.

Trade by invoicing currency (TIC) data are part of the information available for extra-EU trade. The invoicing currency is the currency in which the commercial invoice is drawn up. Data by invoicing currency can be used for instance to explore the use of the euro in the EU’s international trade, to compare it with the role of the United States dollar (USD) or to analyse the role of the euro in the euro area and in the EU. These statistics are very useful to central banks, including the European Central Bank, for comparing the euro with other major international currencies. These data are also used by financial market segments or foreign investors.

Statistical dimensions available for TIC data:

• reporting country;
• partner country;
• reference period;
• trade flows;
• product; and
• currency.

Product classification

The Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) is managed by the United Nations and correlated with the subheadings of the Harmonised System. SITC Rev. 4 comprises 2 970 basing headings which are aggregated into 262 groups, 67 divisions and 10 sections. TIC data are based on the section level complemented by the division 33 ‘oil”.

Country classification

The ‘Nomenclature of countries and territories for the external trade statistics of the Union and statistics of trade between Member States’, known as the ‘Geonomenclature’, is used to collect detailed statistics on exchanges of goods. TIC data are only disseminated at an aggregated partner level: partner ‘extra-EU’ for TIC data reported by the EU Member States and partner ‘world’ for the TIC data reported by the EFTA and enlargement countries. See the publication Geonomenclature applicable to European statistics on international trade in goods for more information (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/international-trade-in-goods/publications#methotherpub).

The scope of TIC data is the same as for monthly detailed data on extra-EU trade in goods. They cover all goods entering (imports) or leaving (exports) the national statistical territory and for which the trading partner is a non-EU country. Note that the statistical territory of Germany does not correspond to its customs territory: the statistical territory but not the customs territory of Germany includes Heligoland.

As ITGS in general, TIC data cover all sectors of the economy.

valid up to and including 2020

Reporting country – Except for some specific goods like vessels and aircraft, ITGS follow the physical movements of the goods. A country should record an import when goods enter its statistical territory and an export when goods leave that territory except if those goods are in simple transit.

Partner country – At detailed level, this is the last known country of destination for exports and the country of origin for imports. However, data by invoicing currency are not broken down by individual partner countries. They are replaced by the partner area; ‘extra-EU’.

Product – Goods are primarily classified by commodity code as set out in the EU Combined Nomenclature. TIC data are compiled on the basis of a correspondence table enabling the transposition of detailed data collected according to the Combined Nomenclature into the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). TIC data are available by three product groups: Raw materials without oil (SITC sections 0-4, excluding division 33), Oil (SITC division 33) and Manufactured products (SITC sections 5-8).

Currency – The invoicing currency is the currency in which the commercial invoice is drawn up. Its definition is provided by the customs legislation. Only the following currencies or groups of invoicing currencies are considered for data transmission to Eurostat:
- euro; - national currencies of EU Member States not belonging to the euro area; - US dollar; ‘other’ (i.e. aggregated group of currencies of all non-EU countries except the United States); and 'unknown' (only in 2020).

Note on ‘unknown’ currency: Trade for which the currency is unknown should be distributed over the individual currencies or groups of currencies proportionally to their relative share except if it is known that such a distribution would skew the data in a too significant extent. In such a case, the code UNK ‘Unknown’ could exceptionally be used.

valid from 2021

Reporting country – Except for some specific goods like vessels and aircraft, ITGS follow the physical movements of the goods. A country should record an import when goods enter its statistical territory and an export when goods leave that territory except if those goods are in simple transit.

Partner country – At detailed level, this is the last known country of destination for exports and the country of origin for imports. However, data by invoicing currency are not broken down by individual partner countries. They are replaced by the partner area  ‘extra-EU’.

Product – Goods are primarily classified by commodity code as set out in the EU Combined Nomenclature. TIC data are compiled on the basis of a correspondence table enabling the transposition of detailed data collected according to the Combined Nomenclature into the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). TIC data are available by the following groops:
food and live animals (SITC0), beverages and tobacco (SITC1),  crude materials, inedible, except fuels (SITC2), mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (SITC3),  animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes (SITC4), chemicals and related products, n.e.s. (SITC5), manufactured goods classified chiefly by material (SITC6), machinery and transport equipment (SITC7), miscellaneous manufactured articles (SITC8), commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere in the SITC (SITC9) and oil according to SITC division 33 (SITC33).

Currency – The invoicing currency is the currency in which the commercial invoice is drawn up. Its definition is provided by the customs legislation. Only the following currencies or groups of invoicing currencies are considered for data transmission to Eurostat:

• Total (_T)
• Euro (EUR),
• UK pound sterling (GBP),
• US dollar (USD),
• national currencies of non-euro Member States (XU3),
• Brazilian real (BRL)
• Canadian dollar (CAD)
• Swiss franc (CHF)
• Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY)
• Indian rupee (INR)
• Japanese yen (JPY)
• South Korean won (KRW)
• Mexican peso (MXN)
• Norwegian krone (NOK)
• Russian rouble (RUB)
• Singapore dollar (SGD)
• Turkish lira (TRY)
• Other not specified currencies (_X)
• Unknown currency (_U)

Note on ‘unknown’ currency: Trade for which the currency is unknown should be distributed over the individual currencies or groups of currencies proportionally to their relative share except if it is known that such a distribution would skew the data in a too significant extent. In such a case, the code _U ‘Unknown currency’ could exceptionally be used.

The statistical unit is any natural or legal person lodging a customs declaration in Germany on the condition that the customs procedure is of statistical relevance.

The statistical population comprises all the legal or natural persons who have  lodged a customs declaration with the German National Customs Authority within the year.

German Extra EU trade

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See document TIC Quality indicators.

TIC data disseminated at national level

Not available.

Not applicable.

For data transmission to Eurostat – Trade values (in national currency units) by invoicing currency. The value of traded goods is calculated at the national frontier, on a FOB (free on board) basis for exports and a CIF (cost, insurance, freight) basis for imports. Hence, only incidental expenses (freight, insurance) are included and they are incurred for:

• exports in the part of the journey located on the territory of the country where the goods are exported from;
• imports in the part of the journey located outside the territory of the country where the goods are imported to.

For data dissemination on Eurostat website – Share of each invoicing currency in extra-EU imports and exports.

Theoretically, the reference period for the information on international trade in goods transactions should be the calendar month of export or import of the goods. However, in practice the reference period is generally the calendar month during which the customs declaration is accepted by the National Customs Authority.

The reference years for which TIC data are disseminated result from the aggregation of monthly figures from January to December.

Legislation applicable as of 1 January 2022

 Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019R2152>  on European business statistics

 • Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32020R1197>  laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152

 • Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1225 <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32021R1225>  specifying the arrangements for the data exchanges and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, as regards the Member State of extra-Union export and the obligations of reporting units

 • Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1704 <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32021R1704>  further specifying the details for the statistical information to be provided by tax and customs authorities and amending Annexes V and VI of Regulation (EU) 2019/2152

 Extra-EU trade legislation (or Extrastat) - legislation applicable up to 1 January 2022

 Basic Act: Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council

 • Implementing Commission Regulation (EC) No 92/2010

 • Implementing Commission Regulation (EC) No 113/2010

 All regulations relevant for the European statistics on international trade in goods can be found in the publication Legislation on European statistics on international trade in goods <https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-statistical-reports/-/KS-FT-17-007>  or consulted from the Legislation <https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/international-trade-in-goods/legislation>  page of the International trade in goods section on Eurostat website. All legal texts of the EU are accessible on Eur-Lex. <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm>

Not applicable.

Regulation (EC) No 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council

Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 <https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019R2152>  on European business statistics

fidential if statistical units can be identified, either directly or indirectly, and information about individuals or businesses is disclosed as a result.

For the Confidentiality policy of German ITGS see https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/ext_go_agg_esms.htm. It does not apply to TIC however (see 7.2).

TIC data are the results of the aggregation of real trade data. The SITC-1 digit codes are not accurate enough to disclose confidential information. There are no national confidentiality rules on SITC-1 digit codes.

TIC data disseminated at national level

TIC data are released on an annual basis (press release only). There is no specific release calendar for TIC data.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 8.1 ‘Release calendar’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency (TIC)’ for more details.

TIC data disseminated at national level

There is no specific release calendar for TIC data.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 8.2 ‘Release calendar access’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data disseminated at national level

Users can access the press release on TIC data through the DESTATIS website.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 8.3 ‘Release policy - user access’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data disseminated at national level

TIC data are disseminated each year in May by press release.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 9 ‘Frequency of dissemination’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data disseminated at national level

Annual press release on the DESTATIS website.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 10.1 ‘Dissemination format - News release’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data disseminated at national level

There is no national publication on TIC data.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 10.2 ‘Dissemination format - Publications’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data disseminated at national level

To date there are no TIC data on the GENESIS online database available.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 10.3 ‘Dissemination format - online database’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

TIC data disseminated at national level

For PSIs, there is an Intrastat general guide and an information bulletin from German Customs.

The Intrastat general guide (for PSIs) is available in German on our homepage under:
https://www-idev.destatis.de/idev/doc/intra/doc/Intrahandel_Leitfaden.pdf

The English guide (2020 version) is available under:

https://www-idev.destatis.de/idev/doc/intra_en/doc/IntraCommunity.pdf

Information bulletins from German Customs are available at the homepage of German Customs under:

https://www.zoll.de/SiteGlobals/Forms/Suche/FormulareMerkblaetter_Formular.html?nn=307304

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 10.6 ‘Documentation on methodology' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

100%

TIC data disseminated at national level

There is a national quality report covering all relevant aspects of ITGS data. 

Our national quality report is available (for 2018) on our homepage and retrievable under following address: https://www.destatis.de/EN/Methods/Quality/QualityReports/Foreign-Trade/foreign-trade.pdf?__blob=publicationFile

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

 See item 10.7 ‘Quality management - documentation’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

National quality assurance activities comprise mainly bi- and multilateral asymmetry studies and improvements in data deliveries to Eurostat arising from Eurostat error reports.

See item 11.2 ‘Quality management - assessment' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data disseminated at national level

Our main users are the federal ministries, business federations and companies, the national bank, regional statistical offices, BOP and NA statistics and the public.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 12.1 ‘Relevance - User Needs’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data disseminated at national level

There are bi-annual user conferences with our main users on new topics and current developments in ITGS statistics and the users are asked for feedback and views.

TIC data disseminated by Eurostat

See item 12.2 ‘Relevance - User Satisfaction’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

See item 12.3 ‘Completeness’ of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

See item 13.1 ‘Accuracy - overall' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

See item 13.2 ‘Sampling error' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

Not applicable.

See item 13.3 ‘Non-sampling error' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

See concepts 14.1.1 and 14.1.2.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

Not applicable.

See concept 14.2.1 for the time lag between the actual delivery of the TIC data and the target date when it should have been delivered.

See document TIC Quality indicators.

See item 15.1 ‘Comparability - geographical' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

Not applicable.

Reasons for breaks in time series in Germany are:  different raises in the exemption thresholds (1999, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2016), changes in the statistical territory (1959 incorporation of the Saarland, 1990 German reunification) as well as annual commodity code changes affecting comparability at detailed level.

The time series is available since 2014 on a bi-annual basis, since 2017 annually (see concept 15.2).

See item 15.3 ‘Coherence - cross domain' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

See item 15.4 ‘Coherence - internal' of the related metadata ‘ext_tic - International trade in goods – trade by invoicing currency’ for more details.

TIC data are derived from information collected via customs declarations. No specific data collection is necessary, which means that there is no burden for the respondents, i.e. for the traders and businesses. The cost of TIC data only relates to the compilation step carried out by the National Statistical Authorities, which is considered as minor given the small number of records.

There are no revisions for TIC data.

Not applicable.

Not available.

TIC data are derived from the combination of two types of information collected via customs declarations:

• Trade in goods transactions; and
• The invoicing currency associated to these transactions.

Collection of trade in goods data: every month via customs declarations

Collection of the invoicing currency: every month via customs declarations

Collection of trade in goods data

The standard source of information on trade transactions is the customs declaration submitted by businesses and, in some cases, by private individuals involved in an international transaction of goods with a non-EU country. The customs declarations are transmitted in DatML / RAW format and converted into xml files.

Collection of the invoicing currency

The invoicing currency is the currency in which the commercial invoice is drawn up. It is mandatory information to be collected by the Customs National Authorities for imported goods. On exports, this data element is also collected by the Customs National Authorities.

At national level, same quality checks are conducted as for regular ITGS statistics, i.e. for data completeness, validity and credibility.

German TIC data disseminated by Eurostat have passed the following quality checks:

• Intra-dataset checks: completeness of the dataset and uniqueness of the records, validity of the codes, validity of code combinations across the different dimensions, inter-record consistency checks;
• Intra-domain check: check of the coherence between trade values published in the TIC dataset and trade values coming from aggregated and detailed trade in goods data.

At national level:

There are no specific data compilation operations carried out for TIC data.

At European level:

The share of each invoicing currency in the imports and exports of Germany is calculated on the basis of the transmitted trade values.

At national level:

No imputation

At European level:

No imputation is made by Eurostat.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.