Export and import price indices can be used to analyse terms of trade, inflation or volume/price elasticities in open economies. Price indices also allow to deflate trade values in order to obtain volumes. CEPII aims at providing aggregated and sectoral trade price indices for all countries of the world. These indices are computed using unit values given by BACI, the CEPII database of international trade at the product-level.

The large country dimension of BACI is particularly useful for international comparisons of prices evolutions. Indeed, national statistical institutions often use different methodologies which prevents any type of cross-country analysis. The United Nations and the IMF provide cross-country comparable Laspeyres price indices releasing export and import unit value indices at the aggregate level. However, Laspeyres indices are not necessarily  appropriate to all studies (for instance, they can over-estimate actual price changes). Moreover, UN and IMF provide price indices for only 44 countries excluding then a lot of developing countries. Finally, there is no disaggregated trade indices allowing an international comparison.

This database is not maintained.