Narwhal API
Country trade totals alongside CPI, GDP, FX and release calendars.
Best trade data APIs in 2026
Compare merchandise trade APIs by reporting country and level of detail. Narwhal provides national totals alongside macro data; UN Comtrade, US Census and Eurostat Comext serve partner or product analysis.
Decision
Choose Narwhal for national merchandise totals alongside CPI, GDP, FX and release calendars. Use UN Comtrade for bilateral and HS detail, Census for US detail, or Comext for EU trade.
Provider shortlist
Trade coverage is limited to national merchandise totals. Narwhal API is owned and operated by Nusantara Ventures, LLC.
UN Comtrade
International merchandise trade by partner and HS product.
US Census Bureau trade API
Detailed monthly US exports and imports.
WITS
Keyless access to the TRAINS tariff dataset.
Eurostat Comext
EU goods trade by partner and product.
Compare the options
Best fit is not feature parity. Check the evidence and limitation together.
| Provider | Best for | Evidence checked | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Narwhal API | Country trade totals alongside CPI, GDP, FX and release calendars. | Exports, imports and balance for 35 countries, with currency and monthly or annual periods, through REST and MCP. | No partner-country or product breakdown, and no services trade. |
| UN Comtrade | International merchandise trade by partner and HS product. | Official trade data includes exports, imports and re-exports, with history since 1962 for 274 reporters and partners. | Reporting lags and gaps vary; reported exports can differ from partner imports. |
| US Census Bureau trade API | Detailed monthly US exports and imports. | Monthly data from 2010 covers HS, NAICS, SITC, end use, state and port. | US only; this dataset requires a free API key. |
| WITS | Keyless access to the TRAINS tariff dataset. | TRAINS tariff coverage starts in 1988 and spans 157 countries. | Its API currently serves tariffs; merchandise trade coverage in the web tool does not establish API coverage. |
| Eurostat Comext | EU goods trade by partner and product. | Free, keyless monthly data by member state, partner and HS/CN8 product since 1988. | EU reporters only; full-dataset pulls are blocked, so queries must be filtered. |
Choose by requirement
Choose the required detail
Narwhal provides national exports, imports and balance, without partner, product or services detail. Choose UN Comtrade, Census or Comext for partner or HS product analysis.
Budget for query limits
UN Comtrade's free individual account allows 500 daily calls and 100,000 records per call. Comext requires filtered queries. Narwhal Free allows 5,000 successful monthly requests.
Keep coverage distinctions clear
Narwhal covers 35 countries. Census covers US trade, Comext covers EU reporters, and WITS currently exposes tariffs through its API. UN Comtrade documents reporting gaps and bilateral asymmetries.
Sources and review date
Each detailed provider page lists the first-party documentation used, its evidence boundaries, and its review date.
Reviewed: