Singapore Trade Data: Sources, Fields and Method

Which sources should Singapore trade research use?

Use Enterprise Singapore and SingStat for published merchandise trade statistics, Singapore Customs for declaration rules and administrative context, and WCO or UN methodology for classification and international comparison. Preserve the period, flow, partner definition, code edition, unit and valuation basis. Do not infer named-company or shipment-level coverage from public aggregates.

Official sources and field boundaries

Since April 1987, Enterprise Singapore has compiled merchandise trade statistics using import and export permit information submitted to Singapore Customs, postal-package data from Singapore Post Limited, and fuel and stores statements from shipping and aircraft agents. The series describes goods entering or leaving Singapore under defined coverage; separate imports, domestic exports and re-exports before comparing markets or years.

Imports cover goods brought into Singapore for consumption, processing, manufacturing or later shipment elsewhere, subject to the official exceptions. SingStat values imports at CIF: the value at the exporting-country frontier plus insurance, freight and other charges when sold for export to Singapore. An import total alone does not show how much was retained for domestic use.

Merchandise exports comprise domestic exports and re-exports. SingStat values exports at FOB: the value when sold abroad up to loading on the outgoing vessel, aircraft or vehicle. Domestic exports are goods of Singapore origin, including locally produced goods and goods transformed in Singapore. Re-exports leave in the same form in which they entered, without transformation; repacking, sorting, grading, marking or splitting lots does not by itself turn them into domestic exports.

The official glossary defines retained imports as goods imported and kept in Singapore for domestic use. CIF imports and FOB exports have different valuation bases, so subtracting published totals is not a shipment-level ledger or an exact measure of one buyer's demand. Check the selected period, coverage and table notes.

Singapore's general statistical recording system lists exceptions including transhipment cargo, temporary movements intended for return, accompanied personal and household effects (excluding motor vehicles) under stated conditions, trade samples or test specimens, gifts up to S$400, diplomatic correspondence, and certain non-controlled air exports up to S$1,000 or air imports up to S$400. This is a selected summary, not the full list; read the current SingStat Coverage section. Customs permit and GST treatment can overlap with statistical coverage but require separate checks for a particular consignment.

SingStat's merchandise-trade overview describes SITC Revision 4.1 from 1999 and Revision 3 for earlier data. Singapore Customs separately explains the international six-digit HS framework and ASEAN's eight-digit AHTN, including its 2022 amendment. Do not infer a selected public table's code scheme from either overview alone: read that table's own metadata and preserve the edition and any crosswalk before comparing years or markets.

TradeNet is Singapore Customs' national single window for trade documentation. Import, export and transhipment permit applications go through it. That administrative process does not establish public access to raw declarations or a commercial buyer directory.

TradeData research services are separate from those official systems. Tell us the country, trade direction, HS scope, period and fields you need; we will check source coverage, rights and delivery options before discussing a dataset, controlled sample or API access.

A reproducible Singapore trade-data method

1. 1

   Write the research question

   Define the decision before selecting data.

2. 2

   Fix scope

   Specify direction, period, partner definition and HS level.

3. 3

   Choose the national source

   Use the closest official source for the question.

4. 4

   Capture metadata

   Record the table or page, publisher, retrieval time, definitions and footnotes.

5. 5

   Preserve measurement context

   Record edition, currency, CIF/FOB basis, quantity unit and preliminary status.

6. 6

   Carry limitations forward

   Keep exclusions, revisions, missing quantities and historical breaks visible.

7. 7

   Separate aggregate and record-level claims

   For requested record-level fields, record the actual source, permitted use, period and completeness before including them in a comparison.

Frequently asked questions