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International trade in goods - trade by invoicing currency (TIC) (ext_tic)

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National Reference Metadata in Single Integrated Metadata Structure (SIMS)

Compiling agency: Statistics Norway

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International trade in goods statistics (ITGS) measure the value and quantity of goods traded with the rest of the world. ‘Goods’ means all movable property including electricity. ITGS published by Eurostat are compiled on the basis of the concepts and definitions set out in EU legislation.

Trade by invoicing currency (TIC) data are part of the information available. The invoicing currency is the currency in which the commercial invoice is drawn up. 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;
  • reference period;
  • trade flows;
  • product; and
  • currency.

2 June 2025

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 individual partner countries are not kept in the dissemination of data by invoicing currency. They are replaced by the partner area  ‘World’.

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).

Since 2022 Norwegian TIC data are available for the ten individual SITC sections 0-9. In addition SITC section 33 (oil) is available separately.

Before 2022 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:

Common currencies that are reported:

  • Euro (‘EUR’);
  • Norwegian krone (‘NOK’);
  • UK pound sterling (‘GBP’);
  • US dollar (‘USD’);
  • National currencies of non-euro area Member States (‘XU3’);
  • Other not specified currencies (‘_X’);
  • Unknown currency (‘_U’);
  • Total ‘_T’.

Mandatory invoicing currencies provided:

  • Canadian dollar (‘CAD’);
  • Swiss franc (‘CHF’);
  • Chinese yuan renminbi (‘CNY’);
  • Indian rupee (‘INR’);
  • Japanese yen (‘JPY’);
  • Russian rouble (‘RUB’);
  • Singapore dollar (‘SGD’);
  • Turkish lira (‘TRY’).
  • Albanian lek (‘ALL’);
  • Bosnia-Herzegovinian convertible mark(‘BAM’);
  • Bulgarian lev (‘BGN’);
  • Brazilian real (‘BRL’);
  • Czech koruna  (‘CZK ’);
  • Danish krone (‘DKK’);
  • Georgian lari (‘GEL’);
  • Hungarian forint (‘HUF’);
  • Icelandic krona (‘ISK’);
  • Macedonian denar (‘MKD’);
  • Mexican Peso (‘MXN’);
  • Moldovan leu (‘MDL’);
  • Polish zloty (‘PLN’);
  • Romanian leu (‘RON’);
  • Serbian dinar (‘RSD’);
  • Swedish krona (‘SEK’);
  • South Korean Won (‘KRW’);
  • Ukraine hryvnia (‘UAH’).

Note on use of Norwegian krone for imports: In the cases where multiple invoice currencies are used on the same declaration, NOK is chosen as the default currency by Norwegian customs. This leads to the value of the Norwegian krone being larger than it should actually be.  

The set of collected currencies has been evolving over time. Initially, only 5 currencies were collected (EUR, USD, _X, XU3 and _T). Since 2020 reference year, _U currency was added. The full set mentioned above has been collected only since 2022 reference year.

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

The statistical population comprise all the legal or natural persons who shipped goods to or from Norwegian economical territory. 

TIC data are available for the European Union and the euro area as aggregates as well as for all the EU Member States individually. They are also available for the following non-EU countries:

  • All EFTA countries except Liechtenstein for which a derogation applies: Iceland, Norway and Switzerland;
  • United Kingdom (until 2018 reference year);
  • Northern Ireland (since 2022 reference year); and
  • Enlargement countries (candidate countries and potential candidates): Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

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.

The accuracy is tackled at national and European levels, by eliminating as much as possible of the non-sampling errors. It should be noted that the accuracy of TIC data depends mainly on the accuracy of customs declarations.

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 for EU Member States and Northern Ireland, or in world imports and exports for EFTA and enlargement countries.

At national level:

TIC data are calculated on the basis of the transmitted trade values and their associated invoicing currency.

At European level:

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

TIC data are derived from the combination of two types of information via customs declarations for imports and exports:

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

In addition data for oil and natural gas are collected directly from the exporters. These data amount to a large part of Norwegian exports, and are usually exported directly from the Norwegian shelf.

In addition change of ownership of ships and rigs are surveyed from the shipping companies. 

TIC data are updated every year in April/May with a new reference year. However it should be noted that only TIC data relating to even years (e.g. 2020, 2022) are to be mandatorily provided to Eurostat. The geographical coverage might thus be incomplete for reference periods corresponding to odd years (e.g. 2021).

Revisions of historical data may occur at any time but remain exceptional.

See concepts 14.1.1 and 14.1.2.

From a methodological point of view, the comparability across countries is ensured by the implementation of the concepts and definitions set up by the EU legislation and by the application of the complementary guidelines provided by the European business statistics compilers' manual for international trade in goods.

Changes due to definitions, classifications, coverage or methods will have an impact on the continuity of the time series. The most significant change came with the recent Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics.

With Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 the reporting of TIC data became more detailed from 2022 and onward. Both more currencies and more detailed product codes were reported. 

From 2020 the _U (unknown currency) code for currency were included.