A dataset containing bilateral trade flows between 47 African countries, aggregated by HS (Harmonized System) section. Values represent annual averages over 2012-2022 from the CEPII BACI database (HS96 nomenclature).
Usage
data(africa_trade)Format
A data.table with 27,721 rows and 8 columns:
- iso3_o
Factor. Exporter (origin) country ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code (47 countries).
- iso3_d
Factor. Importer (destination) country ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code (47 countries).
- section_code
Integer. HS section code (1 to 21).
- section_name
Factor. HS section description (21 categories, e.g., "Live animals and animal products", "Mineral products", "Machinery and mechanical appliances...").
- hs2_codes
Factor. Comma-separated HS 2-digit codes within the section (e.g., "84, 85" for machinery).
- value
Numeric. Trade value in thousands of USD (current prices).
- value_kd
Numeric. Trade value in thousands of constant 2015 USD.
- quantity
Numeric. Trade quantity in metric tons.
Source
CEPII BACI Database (HS96 nomenclature), Version 202401b, released 2024-04-09. Available at https://www.cepii.fr/DATA_DOWNLOAD/baci/doc/baci_webpage.html.
Reference: Gaulier, G. and Zignago, S. (2010). BACI: International Trade Database at the Product-Level. The 1994-2007 Version. CEPII Working Paper, N 2010-23.
Details
The dataset provides bilateral trade flows aggregated from HS 6-digit product codes (via HS 2-digit) to 21 HS sections. Trade values and quantities are annual averages computed over the 2012-2022 period.
HS sections cover broad product categories:
Sections 1-5: Animal and vegetable products
Sections 6-7: Chemical and plastic products
Sections 8-14: Raw materials and manufactured goods
Sections 15-16: Base metals and machinery
Sections 17-21: Transport, instruments, and miscellaneous
Note: Some country pairs may have sparse trade relationships. Very small values indicate limited trade below typical reporting thresholds.
Examples
data(africa_trade)
head(africa_trade)
#> iso3_o iso3_d section_code
#> 1 AGO BDI 16
#> 2 AGO BEN 1
#> 3 AGO BEN 4
#> 4 AGO BEN 5
#> 5 AGO BEN 6
#> 6 AGO BEN 7
#> section_name
#> 1 Machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and souch recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles
#> 2 Live animals and animal products
#> 3 Prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits and vinegar, tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes
#> 4 Mineral products
#> 5 Product of the chemicals or allied industries
#> 6 Plastics and articles thereof, rubber and articles thereof
#> hs2_codes value value_kd quantity
#> 1 84 5.1040 5.1040000 0.9870
#> 2 3 6810.4528 6527.0068247 8777.0133
#> 3 19, 20, 22 9.5135 9.0984152 20.7370
#> 4 27 3583.7897 3536.4303649 8369.7665
#> 5 30, 32, 33, 34 0.9435 0.9319342 0.0275
#> 6 39, 40 71.2590 71.9540899 31.2510
# Number of trading pairs
length(unique(paste(africa_trade$iso3_o, africa_trade$iso3_d)))
#> [1] 1971
# Total trade by section
aggregate(value ~ section_name, data = africa_trade, FUN = sum)
#> section_name
#> 1 Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetble waxes
#> 2 Arms and ammunition, parts and accessories thereof
#> 3 Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica, or similar materials, ceramic products, glass and glassware
#> 4 Base metals and articles of base metal
#> 5 Footwear, headgear, umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking-sticks, seat-sticks, whips, riding-crops and parts thereof, prepared feathers and articles made therewith, artificial flowers, articles of human hair.
#> 6 Live animals and animal products
#> 7 Machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and souch recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles
#> 8 Mineral products
#> 9 Miscellaneous manufactured articles
#> 10 Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metal clad with precious metal, and articles thereof, imitation jewellery, coins
#> 11 Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus, clocks and watches, musical instruments, parts and accessories thereof
#> 12 Plastics and articles thereof, rubber and articles thereof
#> 13 Prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits and vinegar, tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes
#> 14 Product of the chemicals or allied industries
#> 15 Pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material, recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard, paper and paperboard and articles thereof
#> 16 Raw hides and skins, leather, furskins and articles thereof, saddlery and harness, travel goods, handbags and similar containers, articles of animal gut (other than silk-worm gut)
#> 17 Textile and textile articles
#> 18 Vegetable products
#> 19 Vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment
#> 20 Wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal, cork and articles of cork, manufacturers of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials, basketwork and wickerwork
#> 21 Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques
#> value
#> 1 1613945.96
#> 2 175980.52
#> 3 1323219.72
#> 4 9615324.31
#> 5 492184.56
#> 6 3014069.79
#> 7 7144013.10
#> 8 25996492.65
#> 9 728451.52
#> 10 7376528.86
#> 11 654594.12
#> 12 3019133.56
#> 13 7824476.75
#> 14 9326746.35
#> 15 1753353.32
#> 16 171264.71
#> 17 2415768.17
#> 18 4772233.71
#> 19 12884142.52
#> 20 744624.84
#> 21 63022.15
# Largest bilateral flows
africa_trade[order(-africa_trade$value), ][1:10, ]
#> iso3_o iso3_d section_code
#> 19294 NGA ZAF 5
#> 18678 NGA CIV 5
#> 6977 DZA TUN 5
#> 664 AGO ZAF 5
#> 26129 ZAF MOZ 5
#> 5477 COD TZA 15
#> 10431 GHA ZAF 14
#> 25654 ZAF BWA 5
#> 16026 MOZ ZAF 5
#> 18764 NGA DZA 5
#> section_name
#> 19294 Mineral products
#> 18678 Mineral products
#> 6977 Mineral products
#> 664 Mineral products
#> 26129 Mineral products
#> 5477 Base metals and articles of base metal
#> 10431 Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metal clad with precious metal, and articles thereof, imitation jewellery, coins
#> 25654 Mineral products
#> 16026 Mineral products
#> 18764 Mineral products
#> hs2_codes value value_kd quantity
#> 19294 25, 26, 27 3128312.6 3041533.2 5567383.378
#> 18678 25, 26, 27 1572964.5 1524679.8 2718137.515
#> 6977 25, 27 1393337.9 1359928.5 1477835.669
#> 664 25, 26, 27 1204953.6 1198880.0 2473175.036
#> 26129 25, 26, 27 1150394.2 1064112.0 6965476.414
#> 5477 72, 73, 74, 76, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83 1105493.8 1026106.0 187368.177
#> 10431 71 1093580.9 1106132.6 569.086
#> 25654 25, 26, 27 1014182.6 979699.1 1943577.323
#> 16026 25, 26, 27 892348.6 861015.7 15235699.239
#> 18764 26, 27 866681.5 907334.7 6418.847
# Trade between specific countries
subset(africa_trade, iso3_o == "ZAF" & iso3_d == "NGA")
#> iso3_o iso3_d section_code
#> 26230 ZAF NGA 1
#> 26231 ZAF NGA 2
#> 26232 ZAF NGA 3
#> 26233 ZAF NGA 4
#> 26234 ZAF NGA 5
#> 26235 ZAF NGA 6
#> 26236 ZAF NGA 7
#> 26237 ZAF NGA 8
#> 26238 ZAF NGA 9
#> 26239 ZAF NGA 10
#> 26240 ZAF NGA 11
#> 26241 ZAF NGA 12
#> 26242 ZAF NGA 13
#> 26243 ZAF NGA 14
#> 26244 ZAF NGA 15
#> 26245 ZAF NGA 16
#> 26246 ZAF NGA 17
#> 26247 ZAF NGA 18
#> 26248 ZAF NGA 19
#> 26249 ZAF NGA 20
#> 26250 ZAF NGA 21
#> section_name
#> 26230 Live animals and animal products
#> 26231 Vegetable products
#> 26232 Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetble waxes
#> 26233 Prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits and vinegar, tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes
#> 26234 Mineral products
#> 26235 Product of the chemicals or allied industries
#> 26236 Plastics and articles thereof, rubber and articles thereof
#> 26237 Raw hides and skins, leather, furskins and articles thereof, saddlery and harness, travel goods, handbags and similar containers, articles of animal gut (other than silk-worm gut)
#> 26238 Wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal, cork and articles of cork, manufacturers of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials, basketwork and wickerwork
#> 26239 Pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material, recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard, paper and paperboard and articles thereof
#> 26240 Textile and textile articles
#> 26241 Footwear, headgear, umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking-sticks, seat-sticks, whips, riding-crops and parts thereof, prepared feathers and articles made therewith, artificial flowers, articles of human hair.
#> 26242 Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica, or similar materials, ceramic products, glass and glassware
#> 26243 Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metal clad with precious metal, and articles thereof, imitation jewellery, coins
#> 26244 Base metals and articles of base metal
#> 26245 Machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, parts thereof, sound recorders and reproducers, television image and souch recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles
#> 26246 Vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment
#> 26247 Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus, clocks and watches, musical instruments, parts and accessories thereof
#> 26248 Arms and ammunition, parts and accessories thereof
#> 26249 Miscellaneous manufactured articles
#> 26250 Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques
#> hs2_codes value
#> 26230 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 4047.6297
#> 26231 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 44466.0138
#> 26232 15 306.9128
#> 26233 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 51346.5875
#> 26234 25, 26, 27 18430.5662
#> 26235 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 70410.8983
#> 26236 39, 40 107293.9331
#> 26237 41, 42, 43 367.3535
#> 26238 44, 45, 46 1321.2536
#> 26239 47, 48, 49 22110.2727
#> 26240 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63 9011.9387
#> 26241 64, 65, 66, 67 973.3085
#> 26242 68, 69, 70 4164.7806
#> 26243 71 175.0221
#> 26244 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83 75819.1181
#> 26245 84, 85 85302.7382
#> 26246 86, 87, 88, 89 143485.1386
#> 26247 90, 91, 92 11087.3447
#> 26248 93 852.2147
#> 26249 94, 95, 96 8806.5570
#> 26250 97 149.3303
#> value_kd quantity
#> 26230 3873.1014 1.352117e+03
#> 26231 42116.8754 5.019097e+04
#> 26232 279.5778 2.736282e+02
#> 26233 49500.2415 2.533764e+04
#> 26234 17881.1629 1.625416e+05
#> 26235 67480.4950 3.381519e+04
#> 26236 102448.6112 8.191542e+04
#> 26237 356.0907 4.876490e+02
#> 26238 1300.7074 1.766760e+03
#> 26239 21560.8662 1.317702e+04
#> 26240 8653.2046 4.482534e+03
#> 26241 958.3432 2.306605e+02
#> 26242 3994.2057 5.822344e+03
#> 26243 172.3183 1.363955e+01
#> 26244 74971.9623 7.522371e+04
#> 26245 82879.6271 2.325024e+04
#> 26246 143010.5935 1.061381e+04
#> 26247 10743.7826 2.134918e+03
#> 26248 823.5848 1.939155e+02
#> 26249 8580.9290 2.617359e+03
#> 26250 146.0542 7.546455e+00