GTAP Data Bases: GTAP 10 Data Base

What is the GTAP 10 Data Base?

The centerpiece of the Global Trade Analysis Project is the GTAP Data Base, a fully documented, publicly available global database containing complete bilateral trade information, transport and protection linkages. The GTAP Data Base represents the world economy and is utilized by thousands worldwide as a key input into most applied general equilibrium (AGE) analysis of global economic issues. An overview of GTAP 10 is available from the open access Journal of Global Economic Analysis at https://www.jgea.org/ojs/index.php/jgea/article/view/77

New Users

The GTAP Data Base is a consistent representation of the world economy for a pre-determined reference year. Underlying the data base there are several data sources, including among others: national input-output (I-O) tables, trade, macroeconomic, energy and protection data. The underlying input-output tables are heterogeneous in sources, methodology, base years, and sectoral detail, thus for achieving consistency, substantial efforts are made to make the disparate sources comparable. For these reasons, the objective of the GTAP Data Base is not to provide I-O tables, but to facilitate the operation of economic simulation models ensuring users a consistent set of economic facts. Some users interested in particular Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) use utilities written by researchers in the network to extract them. Users building I-O tables based on this information do that under their own risk, and are assumed to understand the limitations imposed by the process of data base construction.

The GTAP Data Base is not a relational database of economic variables. Users interested in economic data only for comparative purposes are better served by sources such as the World Bank Development Indicators (WDI), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) financial statistics, or the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, to name a few. The data in the GTAP Data Base accurately depicts the magnitudes of economic variables, but they are presented in terms of the aggregates that serve Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modeling.

GTAP 10 Data Base Documentation chapters 1 and 2 are particularly useful for new users to see how what is included in the GTAP Data Base and how it was structured. The GTAP Data Base is designed to be used with the GTAP Model and is typically run through the RunGTAP software. Before running the model, the user should aggregate the data (regions, commodities and endowments) using the GTAPAgg2 (or FlexAgg) program provided with the data base to the desired level and then use with the economic model (e.g., GTAP or GTAPinGAMS) to analyze the impact of global policies (trade, environmental, migration policies are commonly examined). Alternatively a user may be interested in extracting country SAMs or I-O tables from the GTAP Data Base for single country models.

If you are interested in learning more, we suggest applying for an upcoming GTAP Course (101 or Short Course) or working through the vast materials on the website by reviewing our "Getting Started with GTAP" page.

Additional resources

• Introduction to the Global Trade Analysis Project and the GTAP Data Base, GTAP Working Paper No. 67
• Deriving a Global Social Accounting Matrix, GTAP Technical Paper No. 22
• RunGTAP and Hands-on Computing with RunGTAP and WinGEM To Introduce GTAP and GEMPACK (See section A detailing how to use the GTAP Data Base with the GTAP Model and RunGTAP)

Presentations on GTAP Data Base

Technical Support

GTAP Network members in need of technical support are encouraged to use the following avenues to request assistance. General, non-technical inquiries may be addressed to contactgtappurdue.edu.

• GTAP FAQs
  The Center for Global Trade Analysis maintains a searchable repository of frequently asked questions on many different aspects of GTAP.
• GTAP-L Mailing List
  GTAP-L is an email-based list to which many members of the GTAP Network subscribe in order to receive updates on the GTAP Data Base, model, events, jobs and technical assistance. For further information, to subscribe or to access a searchable archive of GTAP-L messages, please visit the GTAP-L Mailing List homepage
• GTAP Support Email
  gtapsupportpurdue.edu is an account monitored by the Center for Global Trade Analysis' data team. Network members can email to reach a GTAP staff member for technical support on any GTAP product.