Product description: Foreign trade transports as of June 1st, 2005

Purpose of use

Data on the flows of goods in the foreign trade according to mode of transport is an important source of information for decision makers, planners and researchers in the public and private sectors, both on a national level as well as in the European Community.

Concepts, definitions, and classifications used

Data on mode of transport are included in both the data provided by companies in their statistical declarations on internal trade within the EU, and in the data provided in the customs declarations on external trade. In the compilation of Finnish Foreign Trade Statistics data on the internal and external trade are combined; the data on mode of transport are also combined.

The transport statistics data includes ordinary import and export goods but also return goods and repair goods. The transport statistics do not include transit transports.

The mode of transport is defined according to the active means of transport with which the goods are imported or exported across the border. Thus, for example, in double transports, where the goods are in a car and the car is on board a ship, the active means of transport is the ship. Since 1995, the border for external trade is the outer border of the EU and the border for internal trade is the Finnish border.

The UN's international classification standard is used as goods classification (Standard International Trade Classification; SITC, Rev.3). The classification according to countries is based on Commission Regulation (EC) No 750/2005 on the nomenclature of countries and territories for the external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between Member States.

Reliability and timing of the Foreign Trade Statistics

The transport survey will be compiled from the final statistical material on the year of compilation and it will be published when the final material is completed.



Shortcuts