Technical Documentation © 2025, United Nations Requests to reproduce excerpts or to photocopy should be addressed to the CopyrightClearance Centre at copyright.com. All other queries on rights and licences, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to: United Nations Publications405 East 42nd StreetNew York, New York 10017United States of America Email: publications@un.orgWebsite: https://shop.un.org The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s)and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or MemberStates. The designations employed and the presentation of material on any map in this work donot imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nationsconcerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, orconcerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Mention of any firm or licensed process does not imply the endorsement of the UnitedNations. This publication has not been formally edited. United Nations publication issued by the United NationsConference on Trade and Development Acknowledgments This technical report provides detailed documentation of the content, concepts, sources andmethods for the Trade-and-Transport Dataset developed by UNCTAD and the World Bank. This report was prepared, under the overall guidance of Anu Peltola, Director of the StatisticsService of UNCTAD, by Onno Hoffmeister (UNCTAD) and benefited from comments by DanielHopp (UNCTAD), Alexander Blackburn (UNCTAD) and the UNCTAD Statistics Service Team.UNCTAD gratefully acknowledges the comments from Nicholas J Lazarou (Joint ResearchCentre). Overall layout, graphics and desktop publishing were undertaken by the Division of ConferenceManagement of the United Nations Office at Geneva. Glossary GHGgreenhouse gasGISgeographic information systemsHSHarmonized SystemIMFInternational Monetary FundITICInternational Transport and Insurance CostsLDCsleast developed countriesMoTmode of transportOLSordinary least squaresSIDSsmall island developing StatesT&TTrade-and-TransportUNSDUnited Nations Statistics Division Table of contents Acknowledgments..............................................................................iiiGlossary.............................................................................................iv 1.Introduction..................................................................................1 2.Overview of the dataset..............................................................5 A.Included variables............................................................................................7B.Recording of modal split..................................................................................9C.Conceptual specificities.................................................................................11 3.Data sources..............................................................................13 A.UN Comtrade..................................................................................................15B.Time Distance Matrix.....................................................................................17 4.Overview of the compilation process......................................19 5.Preparing the UN Comtrade data for use................................23 A.Acquisition, selection and filtering................................................................25B.Harmonization of commodity classification..................................................26C.Imputation for missing net-weight................................................................26D.Reconciliation of totals, subtotals and values of individual observationunits................................................................................................................27E.Cleaning from invalid and implausible observations....................................28 A.Transport Cost Model....................................................................................35B.Route Split Model...........................................................................................37 7.Constructing the dataset..........................................................41 A.Compilation steps when imports have been reported.................................43B.A fictive example............................................................................................44C.Imputations when imports have not been reported.....................................47 8.Final remarks.............................................................................49 References...............................................................................................53 Annex A.Information included in UN Comtrade trade filesfor imports................................................................................................55 Annex C.Regressions results for the Route Split