Can I obtain data on North Korea import/export of luxury goods from UN Comtrade?
The UN Comtrade database (see
http://comtrade.un.org/db/) contains detailed import and export data of many countries and areas in the world.
North Korea does not report to us currently. However, many countries report trade with
North Korea. So, the trade data of
North Korea are estimated from mirror statistics.
For instance, for motor vehicles the database shows the following trade:
http://comtrade.un.org/db/dqBasicQueryResults.aspx?cc=8703*&px=H1&y=2005&p=408&rg=1,2&tv1=0&tv2=0&so=1001&qt=n
UN Comtrade does not have a standard definition of luxury goods, and it is advised to consult other sources for obtaining a definition of luxury goods in terms of HS commodity codes. You can also have a look at the full commodity list at :
http://comtrade.un.org/db/mr/rfCommoditiesList.aspx. A lot of the luxury goods can be found in HS Chapter 85 and higher chapters.