Imports and exports; value, price and volume; index 2010 = 100 and changes

What does the survey comprise?

Purpose

The survey provides monthly information about developments in value, volume and prices of total imports and exports of goods.

Domain

The survey covers total imports and exports of goods.

Year survey started

The series based on 2010=100 started in January 1990 and was first published on 28 June 2013.

Frequency

Monthly

Publication strategy

The figures are published about six or seven weeks after the end of the month under review.
An update is published eight or nine weeks after the month under review, adjusting the three most recent months. Approximately 8 months after the year under review has ended, the value figures become definite. Figures on volumes and prices become definite when the yearly estimates of the National Accounts are definite.

How is the survey conducted?

Main sources

Monthly volume changes of total imports and exports of goods are calculated from the value of imports and exports as measured in the monthly statistics on international trade in goods. To calculate volume changes, the values are corrected for price changes. Deflators for imported and exported goods are derived from monthly producer prices, combined with a weighting schedule based on the quarterly National Accounts and the value figures of imports and exports.

Census X12-ARIMA is used to adjust the value and volume figures for differences in the number of working days. The method corrects for national holidays, leap days and the difference between weekdays and weekends.

The monthly volume figures corrected for differences in the working day pattern in this survey may differ from the volume figures for imports and exports in the Dutch quarterly Accounts, as the latter are not adjusted for differences in the weekday pattern. In addition, the integration process in the quarterly National Accounts may result in deviations from the value figures in the monthly international trade statistics.

Quality of the results

Comparability

The figures are comparable over time.

Revisions

Import and export figures may be adjusted as new or updated source information for the monthly international trade statistics and producer prices becomes available. In addition, monthly price changes are adjusted retrospectively to fit those of imports and exports of goods in the quarterly National Accounts and the annual National Accounts. A complete revision of the National Accounts is done once every five or ten years.