931 Special transactions and commodities not classified according to kind
After several years of growth marked by a peak of 589.1 bln US$ in 2008, the value (in current prices) of exports of special transactions and
commodities not classified according to kind (SITC group 931) declined by 4.5 percent to 562.8 bln US$ in 2009 (see table 2). Imports for the same
year also diminished by 24.0 percent to 485.2 bln US$ (see table 3). Graph 1 shows the decline in exports for 2009 in this product group, compared
with decreases for world exports of commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere in SITC (SITC section 9) of 1.6 percent and in total
world exports of 22.2 percent. Exports of special transactions and commodities not classified according to kind (SITC group 931) accounted for 82.4
percent of world exports of SITC section 9 and 4.5 percent of total world exports (see table 1).
USA, Germany, and Netherlands were the top exporting countries in 2009 (see table 2). They accounted respectively for 18.7, 14.9 and 12.3 percent
of world exports. Top destinations were Germany, USA and Netherlands (see table 3). By MDG regions (see graph 2), Developed Europe accounted
for a majority of exports and imports of special transactions and commodities not classified according to kind (SITC group 931). In 2009, its exports
and imports were valued respectively at 254.8 bln US$ and 219.4 bln US$, resulting in a trade surplus of 35.4 bln US$. A larger trade surplus was
recorded by Developed North America (+57.6 bln US$). Top trade deficits were recorded by Western Asia (-54.9 bln US$), South-eastern Europe
(-4.2 bln US$), and Sub-Saharan Africa (-3.8 bln US$).
Table 1: Imports (Imp.) and exports (Exp.), 1995-2009, in current prices
1995
1996
132.2
142.6
83.5
86.8
2.6
2.8
Values in Bln US$ Imp.
Exp.
As a percentage of Imp.
SITC section (%) Exp.
As a percentage of Imp.
world trade (%) Exp.
1997
131.2
129.2
81.6
82.3
2.5
2.5
1998
141.0
133.3
80.3
83.3
2.5
2.4
1999
128.3
117.7
79.4
79.7
2.3
2.2
2000
136.7
124.2
83.8
85.4
2.4
2.2
235.9
230.0
90.5
91.2
3.6
3.6
Graph 1: Annual growth rates of exports, 1995−2009
2001
2002
212.0
415.9
89.0
95.4
3.4
6.8
218.9
235.7
89.4
91.2
3.3
3.7
2003
247.4
286.6
88.6
89.6
3.2
3.8
2004
SITC, Section 9
Country or area
World....................................
USA.......................................
Germany................................
Netherlands..........................
United Arab Emirates...........
Japan....................................
Russian Federation...............
United Kingdom....................
Singapore..............................
Canada..................................
France...................................
Italy.......................................
Saudi Arabia.........................
Belgium.................................
India......................................
Australia...............................
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
−20%
−40%
Imports
Exports
2008
638.8
589.1
86.4
84.8
3.9
3.7
2009
485.2
562.8
82.9
82.4
3.9
4.5
Avg.
Growth Growth World share %
(%)
(%)
(million US$) 05-09 08-09
Cum.
562 845.4
105 478.3
83 976.2
69 208.3
53 154.1
34 258.5
26 126.3
22 378.7
18 292.6
12 842.0
11 533.3
10 932.0
9 196.5
8 464.8
7 719.4
7 483.3
13.4
36.9
22.4
9.1
12.1
7.0
7.2
4.3
20.4
-5.7
8.9
1.3
...
1.9
61.9
1.0
-4.5 100.0
182.1 18.7
-13.4 14.9
-21.2 12.3
13.4
9.4
-7.1
6.1
-26.6
4.6
-13.2
4.0
-28.2
3.3
-22.4
2.3
-15.2
2.0
-27.0
1.9
-7.9
1.6
-23.8
1.5
169.7
1.4
-3.2
1.3
18.7
33.7
46.0
55.4
61.5
66.1
70.1
73.4
75.6
77.7
79.6
81.3
82.8
84.1
85.5
Country or area
Developed N. America
South−eastern Europe
CIS
Northern Africa
Sub−Saharan Africa
Latin Am, Caribbean
Eastern Asia
Southern Asia
South−eastern Asia
Western Asia
50
10
0
15
0
20
0
25
0
30
0
Oceania
Avg.
Growth Growth World share %
(%)
(%)
(million US$) 05-09 08-09
Cum.
Value
World....................................
Germany................................
USA.......................................
Netherlands..........................
Saudi Arabia.........................
United Arab Emirates...........
United Kingdom....................
Iraq........................................
Russian Federation...............
Turkey...................................
Japan....................................
Hungary.................................
Italy.......................................
Singapore..............................
Poland...................................
Portugal.................................
Developed Europe
0
503.8
485.8
87.5
87.2
3.6
3.5
09
08
Trade balance
Developed Asia−Pacific
−2
50
−2
00
−1
50
−1
00
−5
0
2007
Table 3: Top importing countries or areas in 2009
Graph 2: Trade Balance by MDG regions 2009
(Bln US$)
424.8
392.6
87.5
86.6
3.5
3.3
20
07
20
06
20
05
20
04
20
03
20
02
20
01
20
00
20
99
20
98
19
97
19
96
19
19
19
95
−60%
2006
Value
Total
100%
295.0
340.9
85.8
90.2
2.8
3.3
Table 2: Top exporting countries or areas in 2009
(In percentage by year)
SITC code 931
2005
304.2
341.7
87.2
89.8
3.3
3.8
Source: UN Comtrade
485 186.2
82 021.9
55 301.9
54 530.8
46 534.0
42 663.7
26 708.3
18 654.8
13 673.4
10 795.3
10 238.5
9 516.6
8 214.9
7 231.9
6 341.8
5 992.9
13.2
25.0
0.0
14.9
...
32.5
-8.2
20.4
22.2
14.8
6.7
28.0
-23.0
43.4
29.4
19.1
-24.0 100.0
-22.6 16.9
-14.0 11.4
-15.1 11.2
-16.0
9.6
98.6
8.8
-11.1
5.5
8.1
3.8
1.6
2.8
-34.3
2.2
-14.3
2.1
-23.6
2.0
-81.1
1.7
-21.0
1.5
-30.2
1.3
24.3
1.2
16.9
28.3
39.5
49.1
57.9
63.4
67.3
70.1
72.3
74.4
76.4
78.1
79.6
80.9
82.1