Multi-regional trade data on Europe in 2010

PBL developed an update of the available regional trade data on Europe. This report sets out how these regional trade data were developed by PBL for the year 2010. The data on the bilateral trade between EU NUTS2 regions were developed for the dual purpose of regional economic modelling and analysing how those regions are performing in comparison with other EU regions. Interregional trade relations are essential for empirically sound regional economic modelling. However, these crucial economic data on trade between regions are noticeably missing from European regional databases.

Considering the limited scope of the project, we applied an updating method based on the PBL original freight-based trade data set to develop an up-to-date data set. The resulting bi-regional data set describes the most likely trade flows between European regions, given all the available information, and is consistent with national accounts. This project was financed by the Institute of Prospective Technology Studies (IPTS) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and the data is to be used in the regional economic Rhomolo model of IPTS.