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Dynamic Gravity Dataset (DGD)
The gravity data describes country characteristics and relationships between two trading partners. This data covers the period between 1948 and 2019 and contains variables describing macroeconomic indicators, geographic characteristics, trade facilitation measures, cultural relationships, and institutional stability measures. In order to accurately reflect the dynamic nature of the globe, the dataset follows the formation and dissolution of countries each year and features extensive time variation in corresponding variables.
The gravity data describes country characteristics and relationships between two trading partners. This data covers a total of 286 countries between 1948 and 2016 and contains more than 60 variables describing macroeconomic indicators, geographic characteristics, trade facilitation measures, cultural relationships, and institutional stability measures. In order to accurately reflect the dynamic nature of the globe, the dataset follows the formation and dissolution of countries each year and features extensive time variation in corresponding variables.
Key features of the Dynamic Gravity Dataset
- It is a square dataset, meaning that it has equal number of exporters and importers
- Data includes:
- Macroeconomic indicators, such as GDP, population, and capital stocks
- Geographic characteristics, such as distance, contiguity, and latitude/longitude
- Trade facilitation measures, such as trade agreements, broken down into FTAs, EIAs, CUs, and PSAs; services agreements, and international organization membership
- Cultural relationships, such as common languages and colonial ties
- Institutional stability measures, such as political stability, hostility, and economic sanctions
- It covers 286 countries and territories that exist for at least one year during the sample period. The dataset begins in 1948 covering 122 countries and territories and expands to 252 countries and territories by 2016.
- In addition to the standard country ISO codes, it includes a set of country-identifying codes that precisely track the splitting and merging of countries through time.
- It includes within-country records, allowing researchers to work with domestic as well as international production, consumption, or trade
- The construction of all variables is transparent and thoroughly documented
Release Notes for Version 2
- Subject to availability of underlying data, variables were updated to include years 2017-2019
- ISO alpha-3 of the origin and destination countries were updated. In Version 1, the ISO alpha-3 identifiers for three countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, and Romania) changed in the data corresponding to historical changes in their respective codes. In Version 2, countries have the same code in all years (COD, MMR, and ROU, respectively).
- European Union is included as a single entity. Variables for European Union are available starting in 1958.
- Five new variables were added: colony_ever, common_colonizer, common_legal_origin, agree_fta_eia, agree_cu_eia
- Five variables were discontinued
Download the dataset
Version 2.1 (released in May 2021; data coverage for 1948-2019):
1948-1999, 2000-2016 (matches years in ITPD-E-R01), 2000-2019 (matches years in ITPD-E-R02)
Country and year coverage (in Version 2)
Data is in comma-separated (csv) format compressed into zip files. The first line of each file contains variable names.
1948-1999 (79MB), 2000-2019 (113MB)
2000-2016 (for merging with ITPD-E R01)
Recommended citation (for any version of the dataset)
Dataset documentation
Version 2 Update Note to the Technical Documentation.
Technical Documentation
Version 2.1 Updates
Version 2 Updates
Version History
Version 2.0: New data, updated years, minor corrections (March 2021) (198 MB)
Version 1.0: Initial Release (April 2021) (209 MB)
Questions about the dataset?
Please review our Frequently Asked Questions and the documentation above. If you have any remaining questions, issues, or concerns about the data, please contact us.