“Bulk files” are pre-packaged datasets available in compressed format.  Each bulk file consists of data for the combination of goods/services, classification, frequency, country, and period (for example merchandise trade data of Germany March 2022 in HS2022 classification).   The bulk file download feature offers users a quick method to download full datasets as these are prepackaged in compressed files.  As of mid-2024, there are around 300,000 datasets in UN Comtrade and the number keeps growing.

There are three types of bulk trade data available: plus, classic and tariffline. The plus breakdown provides a complete set of variables submitted by countries, which may include the second partner, customs procedure code, mode of transport and extended trade flow. The classic breakdown, on the other hand, only contains the first partner and commodities in standard trade flows of imports, exports, re-exports and re-imports. If you don’t need all the variables in the plus breakdown, you can opt for the classic breakdown to reduce the file size. The tariffline is the harmonized original data submitted by countries without higher level aggregation and conversion. See the details at this article.

For a comparison of the two breakdowns, please refer to the table below.

Both tariffline and trade data are available as bulk files and may be downloaded from https://comtradeplus.un.org/BulkFilesSearch or through the UN Comtrade API with a valid subscription key.

Bulk file access is exclusive to premium subscribers.