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Imports and exports in detail

The international trade in goods statistics states Denmark’s international trade in goods based on a detailed breakdown on commodity groups and partner countries. The statistics are prepared based on a border passage principle and thus contain all goods crossing the Danish border. International trade in services is stated in the most detailed version by all countries of the world and by 50 different service categories.

Introduction

International trade in goods

The detailed international trade in goods statistics follow the border passage principle, stating the value of goods crossing the Danish border. However, trade in ships and aircraft is an exception, as these transactions are stated by the change of ownership principle.

Read more about the difference between the border passage and change of ownership principles on the subject page on Imports and exports of goods and services.

The detailed statistics show Denmark’s imports and exports of goods, distributed on all countries of the world and approximately 9,500 different commodity codes (CN). In addition to the most detailed breakdown on commodity codes, breakdowns are available on a number of other commodity nomenclatures, making it possible to look at the trade based on wider economic categories (SITC, BEC, KONJ). The statistics are stated by the value of the trade (in DKK) and usually also in kilos and, if relevant, an additional supplementary quantity unit.

The international trade in goods statistics are published monthly and revised on a continuing basis. The statistics for a given month are first published about 40 weekdays after the expiry of the month.

The sources of international trade in goods can be broken down into trade with EU countries (Intrastat) and trade with countries outside the EU (Extrastat).

Trade in goods within the EU is reported monthly to Statistics Denmark by all enterprises that have intra-community trade above a certain value. For non-reporting enterprises, the trade is estimated, e.g. based on information from the VAT return. Enterprises must regularly report all trade in goods with countries outside the EU to the Danish Customs Agency, which passes the information on to Statistics Denmark for the purpose of the statistics.

A number of supplementary administrative sources are additional components, such as metering data for Denmark’s international trade in electricity and gas and data for landings by Danish fishermen abroad.

International trade in services

The international trade in services statistics are stated by the change of ownership principle. Trade in services is considered to be purchases and sales of anything but physical goods. This could be e.g. transport, telecommunications, legal aid etc. Some services may include a goods element, e.g. purchases of goods by travellers in other countries is also treated as trade in services, and goods included in e.g. repair and maintenance and new plant constructions are also included in the valuation of the associated service when these goods are not explicitly invoiced. International trade should be understood as transactions between Danish residents and non-resident counterparties, i.e. between enterprises (or individuals) residing in Denmark and enterprises (or individuals) residing in another country.

First and foremost, Denmark’s international trade in services is calculated by gathering information from a number of selected enterprises (the population of International trade in services), which report to Statistics Denmark either monthly, quarterly or annually. Supplementary information from other sources that cannot be collected directly from the enterprises is added. This is e.g. travel, where the exports are assessed in collaboration with VisitDenmark, public services, freight included in goods trade, and services purchased from abroad by private individuals.

To a wide extent, the international trade in services statistics is based on a sample. This means that all figures are associated with sampling error. The sampling error is higher for the most detailed statements by service groups and/or geographical areas. Values estimated to have very high sampling error have been suppressed in all publications.

In the monthly seasonally-adjusted publication of international trade in goods and services, the trade in services is broken down on Maritime transport, Other business services and Other kinds of services. Each quarter, a more detailed version of the international trade in services is published, broken down on selected countries and service groups. The annual statistics are more detailed and are broken down on all countries of the world and 50 categories of services.

Documentation

Documentation of statistics

Get an overview of the purpose, content and quality of the statistics. Here you can find information on the sources that the statistics are derived from, what the statistics contains and how often it is published.

Key figures

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related content in Imports and exports in detail

Contact

Pia Nielsen
Phone: +45 39 17 31 99

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