Discrepancies in forest products trade statistics

Abstract

This paper describes the factors that contribute to discrepancies in the trade statistics between partner countries and the extent to which discrepancies occur within the forest products sector. The analysis of the trade data demonstrates that the discrepancy ratio becomes smaller as the degree of processing increases. A statistical analysis found that there was a significant difference between the size of the trade statistics discrepancy ratios between developed and less-developed economies. Finally, the trade statistics were statistically analyzed to establish what might loosely be described as a "normal" range of trade statistics discrepancies. Key words: trade discrepancy, forest products, trade statistics, international trade, bi-lateral trade, trade flows, illegal smuggling