External Trade Ministerial Statistical Office
The External Trade Ministerial Statistical Office is the External Trade Statistics and Analyses Division (DSECE).
The DSECE is part of the Customs Directorate General (DGDDI) of the Ministry for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty).
It is responsible for monitoring France's external trade in terms of goods.
Main missions
The DSECE devises the methods for how statistics that apply to foreign trade in France will be handled, in line with European recommendations. It produces these statistics, analyses and publishes them.
In the framework of its integration in the European statistics system, the DSECE is specifically responsible for:
- participating in European cooperation in the areas of regulation, production and experimentation with statistics and customs nomenclatures;
- applying the applicable European statistical regulations at a national level to customs declarations (DAUs) and to declarations for the trading of goods (DEBs).
Statistical production
Most of the output concerns monthly imports and exports in terms of both value and quantity, by product and country. The DSECE determines the procedures for collecting and validating data, notably those relating to exchanging computerised data. To this end, the DSECE provides functional supervision to the statistics division of the National Directorate of External Trade Statistics (DNSCE) and to two inter-regional centres for the seizure of data (CISDs).
The data collected and validated are completed by statistical data processing below the declaration threshold in intra-EU trade, late data and by applying correction coefficients for seasonal variations and working days.
The production and sharing of statistics on international exchanges of goods according to the characteristics of companies complete the statistics on traded products.
Studies and forecasting
The DSECE produces specific analyses on the evolution of France's trade balance.
On its own account or for other Ministerial sub-directorates, or even in partnership with other economic administrations, it carries out studies and analyses of an economic nature.
Dissemination
The statistics and studies produced and disseminated by the DSECE are available on its website Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletLe chiffre du commerce extérieur.
This web page aims both to provide the various elements necessary for the overall economic analysis of trade in goods between France and its trading partners, as well as to allow specific research regarding particular markets.
In line with the open data policy, a very wide range of data is available to download, and is to do with both recent and historical data covering a period of several years. This offering is complemented by access to metadata files, in particular regarding product naming.