Subnational Foreign Trade Data in Latin America: Diagnostic, Challenges, and Technical Pathways
Resumo
National foreign trade data (a country’s exports/imports) is widely available, but demand for the subnational level (states, municipalities) is growing. This brings volume and variety challenges, due to granularity and differing data handling across countries. This work analyzes the conditions of Latin American subnational foreign trade data to propose technical pathways for integration and standardization aimed at analytical uses. A layered minimal Lakehouse architecture, centered on Data Exploration and Understanding is employed, and case studies (Mexico and Uruguay) are presented. Findings reveal heterogeneity in data collection, compilation and dissemination, highlighting the need for harmonization to enable comparative analysis.
Palavras-chave:
Data Integration, Data Lakehouse, Subnational Foreign Trade, Trade Statistics Quality, Latin American Trade
Referências
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Armbrust, M., Ghodsi, A., Xin, R., Zaharia, M. (2021). Lakehouse: A new generation of open platforms that unify data warehousing and advanced analytics. In Proceedings of CIDR, 8(1): 28.
Cavusgil, S. T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J. R., Rammal, H. G., Rose, E. L. (2014). International business. Pearson Australia.
Chen, C., Jiang, Z., Li, N., Wang, H., Wang, P., Zhang, Z., Zhang, C., Ma, F., Huang, Y., Lu, X., Wei, J., Qi, J., Chen, W. Q. (2022). Advancing UN Comtrade for physical trade flow analysis: review of data quality issues and solutions. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 186: 106526.
Francioni, B. and Martín, O. (2024). International market, network, and opportunity selection: A systematic review of empirical research, integrative framework, and comprehensive research agenda. Journal of International Management, 30(5): 101174.
Gimenez-Perales, F. (2024). The dynamics of importer–exporter connections. European Economic Review, 161: 104638.
Hu, L., Song, C., Ye, S., Gao, P. (2022). Spatiotemporal statistical imbalance: a longterm neglected defect in UN Comtrade dataset. Sustainability, 14(3): 1431.
Huber, R. A., Stiller, Y., Dür, A. (2023). Measuring subnational trade competitiveness. Scientific data, 10(1): 331.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía [INEGI] (2024). Encuesta Trimestral de Comercio Exterior Estatal (ETEF). Available: [link]. [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2025].
Ito, K., Endoh, M., Jinji, N., Matsuura, T., Okubo, T., and Sasahara, A. (2025). Margins, concentration, and the performance of firms in international trade: Evidence from Japanese customs data. Journal of The Japanese and International Economies, 75: 101340.
Jiang, M., Liu, L., Behrens, P., Wang, T., Tang, Z., Chen, D., Yu, Y., Ren, Z., Zhu, S., Tukker, A., Zhu, B. (2020). Improving subnational input–output analyses using Regional Trade Data: a case-study and comparison. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(19): 12732-12741.
Kardes, I. (2016). Reaching middle class consumers in emerging markets: unlocking market potential through urban-based analysis. International Business Review, 25(3): 703-710.
México (2022). Metodología de la Balanza Comercial de Mercancías de México [BCMM]. Available: [link]. [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2025].
Papadopoulos, N. and Denis, J. (1988). Inventory, taxonomy and assessment of methods for international market selection. International Marketing Review, 5(3): 38–51.
Papadopoulos, N. and Martín, O. (2011). International market selection and segmentation: Perspectives and challenges. International Marketing Review, 28(2): 132–149.
Raasveldt, M. and Mühleisen, H. (2019). Duckdb: an embeddable analytical database. In Proceedings of the 2019 international conference on management of data: 19811984).
Schneider, J., Gröger, C., Lutsch, A., Schwarz, H., Mitschang, B. (2024). The Lakehouse: State of the art on concepts and technologies. SN Computer Science, 5(5): 449.
Shaar, K. (2019). Reconciling international trade data. ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics working paper. Hamburg.
United Nations [UN] (2011). International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions. Revision 3, United Nations Publication, New York.
Uruguay XXI (2024). Exportaciones de bienes por departamento. Available: [link]. [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2025].
Volk, M., Staegemann, D., Bosse, S., Häusler, R., Turowski, K. (2020). Approaching the (Big) Data Science Engineering Process. In IoTBDS: 428-435.
Wittwer, G. (2022). Preparing a multi-country, sub-national CGE model: EuroTERM including Ukraine. Centre of Policy Studies, Working Paper G-334.
World Bank (2025). World development indicators: Trade (% of GDP). Available: [link]. [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2025].
World Customs Organization [WCO] (1983). International convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (as amended through 2018). Brussels: WCO.
Armbrust, M., Ghodsi, A., Xin, R., Zaharia, M. (2021). Lakehouse: A new generation of open platforms that unify data warehousing and advanced analytics. In Proceedings of CIDR, 8(1): 28.
Cavusgil, S. T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J. R., Rammal, H. G., Rose, E. L. (2014). International business. Pearson Australia.
Chen, C., Jiang, Z., Li, N., Wang, H., Wang, P., Zhang, Z., Zhang, C., Ma, F., Huang, Y., Lu, X., Wei, J., Qi, J., Chen, W. Q. (2022). Advancing UN Comtrade for physical trade flow analysis: review of data quality issues and solutions. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 186: 106526.
Francioni, B. and Martín, O. (2024). International market, network, and opportunity selection: A systematic review of empirical research, integrative framework, and comprehensive research agenda. Journal of International Management, 30(5): 101174.
Gimenez-Perales, F. (2024). The dynamics of importer–exporter connections. European Economic Review, 161: 104638.
Hu, L., Song, C., Ye, S., Gao, P. (2022). Spatiotemporal statistical imbalance: a longterm neglected defect in UN Comtrade dataset. Sustainability, 14(3): 1431.
Huber, R. A., Stiller, Y., Dür, A. (2023). Measuring subnational trade competitiveness. Scientific data, 10(1): 331.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía [INEGI] (2024). Encuesta Trimestral de Comercio Exterior Estatal (ETEF). Available: [link]. [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2025].
Ito, K., Endoh, M., Jinji, N., Matsuura, T., Okubo, T., and Sasahara, A. (2025). Margins, concentration, and the performance of firms in international trade: Evidence from Japanese customs data. Journal of The Japanese and International Economies, 75: 101340.
Jiang, M., Liu, L., Behrens, P., Wang, T., Tang, Z., Chen, D., Yu, Y., Ren, Z., Zhu, S., Tukker, A., Zhu, B. (2020). Improving subnational input–output analyses using Regional Trade Data: a case-study and comparison. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(19): 12732-12741.
Kardes, I. (2016). Reaching middle class consumers in emerging markets: unlocking market potential through urban-based analysis. International Business Review, 25(3): 703-710.
México (2022). Metodología de la Balanza Comercial de Mercancías de México [BCMM]. Available: [link]. [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2025].
Papadopoulos, N. and Denis, J. (1988). Inventory, taxonomy and assessment of methods for international market selection. International Marketing Review, 5(3): 38–51.
Papadopoulos, N. and Martín, O. (2011). International market selection and segmentation: Perspectives and challenges. International Marketing Review, 28(2): 132–149.
Raasveldt, M. and Mühleisen, H. (2019). Duckdb: an embeddable analytical database. In Proceedings of the 2019 international conference on management of data: 19811984).
Schneider, J., Gröger, C., Lutsch, A., Schwarz, H., Mitschang, B. (2024). The Lakehouse: State of the art on concepts and technologies. SN Computer Science, 5(5): 449.
Shaar, K. (2019). Reconciling international trade data. ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics working paper. Hamburg.
United Nations [UN] (2011). International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Concepts and Definitions. Revision 3, United Nations Publication, New York.
Uruguay XXI (2024). Exportaciones de bienes por departamento. Available: [link]. [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2025].
Volk, M., Staegemann, D., Bosse, S., Häusler, R., Turowski, K. (2020). Approaching the (Big) Data Science Engineering Process. In IoTBDS: 428-435.
Wittwer, G. (2022). Preparing a multi-country, sub-national CGE model: EuroTERM including Ukraine. Centre of Policy Studies, Working Paper G-334.
World Bank (2025). World development indicators: Trade (% of GDP). Available: [link]. [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2025].
World Customs Organization [WCO] (1983). International convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (as amended through 2018). Brussels: WCO.
Publicado
29/09/2025
Como Citar
REDONDO, Felipe Ramon de Britto; SILVA JUNIOR, Orlando da.
Subnational Foreign Trade Data in Latin America: Diagnostic, Challenges, and Technical Pathways. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE BANCO DE DADOS (SBBD), 40. , 2025, Fortaleza/CE.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 711-724.
ISSN 2763-8979.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbbd.2025.247491.
