NOTES ON METHODOLOGY 2010 - 2012
Source and methods of data collection
Data sources for the foreign trade statistics are single administrative documents on export and import of goods. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics receives via e-mail the reviewed single administrative documents from the Customs Administration of the Republic of Croatia in the form of data records and then performs a further statistical analysis and publishes them according to the basic methodological recommendations of the UN Statistics Division (the International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions 2010; Series M, No. 52, Rev. 3, UN Statistics Division, New York, 2011) and Eurostat (Extrastat Basic Regulation No. 471/2009 and other attendant provisions).
Coverage and comparability
Statistics on foreign trade comprises all the goods exported from or imported into the country. Data on foreign trade include both export and import as well as export and import based on gross inward and outward processing.
In inward and outward processing, the total value of goods is monitored. Thus, in the case of an active transfer, the value of goods imported for inward processing, that is, the full value of goods exported after inward processing (including the value of imported goods, the value of domestic material and the value of domestic services).
Besides commercial transactions (which includes charges), the statistics also comprises goods for which the trade, that is, export and import, is performed without the payment of the counter value. This statistics does not include temporary export and import of goods that are returned to the owner in an unaltered state, fuel supply of domestic motor vehicles abroad and foreign motor vehicles in the country, supplying of Croatian diplomatic missions abroad, temporary export and import for repair, personal luggage and tourist movables, re-export (except re-export for further processing) and commercial samples of small value.
All the data on export and import are expressed in values and quantities. Value of goods is determined on the basis of original documents of business entities (contracts, invoices). Data on quantity are collected as net mass.
The values expressed are real values achieved at the time deals were contracted (invoice values), which are then further recalculated according to deliveries at the Croatian border.
The export values are calculated on the basis of the FOB parity. It means that the invoice value is reduced for transportation and other costs incurred from the Croatian border to the place of delivery abroad, if it is agreed that goods are delivered abroad. If it is agreed for delivery to take place in the country (Republic of Croatia), the invoice value is increased by the costs incurred from the place of delivery in Croatia to the Croatian border.
The import values are calculated on the basis of the CIF parity. It means that the invoice value is increased by transportation and other costs incurred from the place of delivery abroad to the Croatian border, if it is agreed that goods are delivered abroad. If it is agreed for delivery to take place in the country (Republic of Croatia), the invoice value is reduced for the costs incurred from the Croatian border to the place of delivery in Croatia.
The amounts expressed in foreign currencies are converted into kuna, euros and American dollars according to the current daily exchange rate lists, as determined by the Croatian National Bank, valid on the day customs duties are levied. The average exchange rate is used.
Since 1 January 2002, the Customs Tariff Nomenclature of the Republic of Croatia (NN, Nos. 113/01, 142/02, 184/03, 165/04, 145/05, 134/06, 124/07, 140/08, 145/09 and 138/10) has been used in data collection on export/import of goods and clearing goods through customs. It has been harmonised with the Harmonised System up to the 6-digit level and with the Combined Nomenclature, the EU customs and statistical classification of products, up to the 8-digit level, while a 10-digit level code represents a national breakdown.
Data on export and import are reported according to the country of destination in case of an export, and the country of origin in case of an import.
The economic classification of countries refers to:
- European Union – EU (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom)
- European Free Trade Association – EFTA (Island, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland)
- Central European Free Trade Agreement – CEFTA (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia)
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries – OPEC (Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, the Islamic Republic of Iran).
Abbreviations
CIF cost, insurance and freight
Eurostat Statistical Office of the European Communities
FOB free on board
NN Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia
UN United Nations
Prepared by:
Vesna Polančec
Dubravka Drempetić
Darinka Grgurić
Maja Perša
Ines Zekić