Compilation of Statistics
Foreign Trade Statistics describes the commodity trade between Finland and other Member States of the European Union (EU) and between Finland and Third Countries i.e. the internal and external trade. Foreign Trade Statistics is the official information source on the importation, exportation, and balance of trade of Finland.
The legislation regulating the compilation of statistics on the external (Extrastat) and internal (Intrastat) trade of the European Community ensures that the statistics are based on an accurately defined set of norms applied in all the EU Member States. Furthermore, uniform definitions and methods have been issued in regulations or decisions of the Commission on the practice of compiling statistics on foreign trade.
In the EU, statistical data on the foreign trade is collected using two different systems. The statistics on the trade with countries outside the EU are obtained from the customs clearance system, and data on the trade between Member States is collected by use of a separate method called the Intrastat system. The statistics on the internal and external trade are published as one Foreign Trade Statistics publication. The preliminary data on the foreign trade is available in about 6 weeks after the end of the statistical month, and the detailed goods statistics are available after about 9 weeks.
The most central standard for classification of goods is the Combined Nomenclature (CN) of the European Union. The Nomenclature is the most detailed system for classification of goods in statistics on foreign trade. The statistics are also published using somewhat more crude classifications according to product, branch and purpose of use.
The Foreign Trade Statistics published by the Finnish National Board of Customs are part of the Official Statistics of Finland (SVT).
There is more detailed information on publishing statistics on the foreign trade and on the grounds for drawing up statistics on the foreign trade in the Manual on foreign trade statistics principles below as well as in the Intrastat guide.