Foreign trade in goods

 

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY 2022

 

Source and methods of data collection

 

The data source for the statistics on the trading in goods with EU Member States is the Intrastat form used by the reporting units to report on arrivals and/or dispatches on the monthly basis, that is, for each month in which goods physically enter or leave the territory of the Republic of Croatia. The reporting units are all business entities, value added tax payers, whose value of trading in goods with EU Member States exceeds the exemption threshold determined for the reference year. For 2022, an exemption threshold of 2.6 million kuna for arrivals and of 1.5 million kuna for dispatches has been determined. In order to achieve the complete harmonisation with the EU methodology and legislation, data on foreign trade in goods have been supplemented with trade value below the exemption threshold, after being estimated on the basis of data on supplies and acquisitions of goods in/from EU Member States provided by the Tax Administration of the Republic of Croatia.

 

The data source for the statistics on the trading in goods with third countries, that is, non-EU countries, are Single Administrative Documents on export and import of goods. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics receives the reviewed Single Administrative Documents from the Customs Administration of the Republic of Croatia in the form of data records.

 

Following basic methodological recommendations of the UN Statistical Office and Eurostat, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics statistically processes and disseminates the collected Intrastat and Extrastat data as unique information on the foreign trade in goods of the Republic of Croatia.

 

 

Legal basis

 

The legal basis for the conduct of the Intrastat survey is the European legislation related to statistics on trading in goods between EU Member States, the Regulation (EU) No. 2019/2152 as well as the Commission Implementing Regulation No. 2020/1197, the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20), the Annual Implementation Plan of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia 2022 (NN, No. 42/22) and the Customs Administration Act (NN, Nos 68/13, 30/14, 115/16, 39/19 and 98/19). More detailed notes on methodology for this survey are published on the website of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics Croatian Bureau of Statistics – Intrastat (gov.hr).

 

The legal basis for Extrastat is the European legislation related to statistics on trading in goods with third countries, the Regulation (EU) No. 2019/2152 as well as the Commission Implementing Regulation No. 2020/1197 and No. 2021/1225 and the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1704, the EU Customs Legislations Implementation Act (NN, No. 40/16), the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20), the Annual Implementation Plan of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia 2022 (NN, No. 42/22), the Customs Administration Act (NN, Nos 68/13, 30/14, 115/16, 39/19 and 98/19) and the Ordinance on Filling in the Single Administrative Document (NN, Nos 65/19 and 136/20).

 

 

Coverage and comparability

 

Statistics on foreign trade in goods include all goods exported from or imported into the country. Data on foreign trade in goods include both 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) are monitored.

 

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 (less than two years) of goods that are returned to the owner in an unaltered state, services, monetary gold, goods used as carriers of customised information including software and software downloaded from the Internet, means of payment which are legal tender and securities, goods supplied free of charge which are not the subject of commercial transactions (advertising material and commercial samples), supplying of Croatian diplomatic missions abroad and foreign diplomatic missions in the Republic of Croatia, and temporary exports and imports for repair.

 

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).

 

The values expressed are actual values achieved at the time when deals were contracted (invoice values), which are then further recalculated according to deliveries at the Croatian border. 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 to be 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.

 

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 to be 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 monthly exchange rate lists determined for the reporting month. The mean exchange rate of the Croatian National Bank is used.

 

Since 1 January 2002, the eight-digit code of the Combined Nomenclature (the EU customs and statistical classification of products) has been used in data collection and it is harmonised up to the six-digit code level with the Harmonised System.

 

Data on export are shown by countries of destination. In Extrastat, data on import are shown by countries of the origin of goods, while, in Intrastat, data on the arrivals of goods are presented by countries of dispatch.

 

As of 1 January 2021, Intrastat reporting has been changed. The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, which entered into force on 1 January 2021, allowed Northern Ireland to remain an integral part of the customs territory of the United Kingdom, but at the same time to have certain benefits from the single market of the European Union.

 

The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland for PSIs in the Republic of Croatia (for the reporting period from January 2021 onwards) means that the dispatch and arrival of goods to and from Northern Ireland must still be reported in Intrastat forms, and data are included in data on trade in goods with EU Member States. As of 1 January 2021, trade in goods with the United Kingdom is included under Other countries in Europe, and exclude the data for Northern Ireland.

 

The economic classification of countries refers to:

-       European Union1) – EU (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden)

-       European Free Trade Association – EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland)

-       Central European Free Trade Agreement – CEFTA (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia and Serbia)

-       Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries – OPEC (Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Congo, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela).

 

 

1) Since 1 January 2021, the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the European Union. The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland ensures that Northern Ireland remains the constitutional part of the customs territory of the United Kingdom. Therefore, the data for Northern Ireland are included in the data on trade in goods with EU Member States.

 

 

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: Dubravka Drempetić, Zrinka Lokas and Tamara Dodig Marić