OEC Trade Data Scraper

OEC Trade Data Scraper

Scrape OEC trade data for any country, product, or year, up to a million records per run. Each record includes export and import values, partner country, and product code. No API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The OEC website shows trade flows but has no bulk download for custom queries. This Actor reads the public trade data directly, filtered by year, reporter, partner, and product code, and returns each match in one fixed schema.

Who uses it	What they scrape OEC for
Trade analysts	Which products a country exports most and to whom
Market researchers	How a product's trade flows change across years
Economists	Bilateral trade balances between two countries
Supply chain managers	Which countries supply a specific HS code

What it does

This Actor collects OEC trade records by year, reporter country, partner country, and product breakdown, and returns each one as a flat row.

• 🌍 Country and partner filters: pick any reporter and optional partner from the full OEC country list.
• 📦 Product breakdowns: choose country totals, HS4, HS6, or SITC4 aggregation.
• 🔢 HS code filter: narrow results to a single 4 or 6 digit product code.
• 📅 Year range: query any year from 1962 to 2024 depending on the product classification.
• ⚡ High volume: collect up to 1,000,000 records per run.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with OEC data

📈 Track export trends.

A trade analyst runs the Actor for China, HS4, 2015 to 2024 to see which product categories grew fastest.

🔍 Find suppliers for a product.

A supply chain manager queries HS code 8542 for 2023 to list all exporting countries and their values.

🌐 Compare bilateral flows.

An economist pulls USA to Mexico trade for 2022 at HS6 to study the composition of the bilateral deficit.

📊 Build a market size model.

A market researcher collects world imports of a product across five years to estimate total addressable market.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads public OEC data directly, no registration or token
Fixed schema	Every record has the same fields for easy analysis
Flexible queries	Combine year, countries, and product level in one run
Export ready	CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML for any downstream tool

How it compares

No other Store actor targets OEC the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	OEC Trade Data Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When OEC changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from year, reporter country, partner country, and product breakdown, and filters run as each record is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "year": 2022,
  "reporter": "nausa",
  "productLevel": "none"
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200,
  "year": 2022,
  "reporter": "nausa",
  "productLevel": "none"
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.02933 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$2.93
1,000 results	$29.33
10,000 results	$293.30

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the OEC Trade Data Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to OEC through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/oec-economic-complexity-trade-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check the year range for your product breakdown. HS data starts in 1995, SITC in 1962. Also verify the HS code is valid for the reporter country.

Why is the run slow?

Large queries with many records can take time. Reduce maxItems or narrow the filters, such as using a specific HS code or partner country.

Why do I see an error about the country slug?

Use the exact OEC country slug from the dropdown. For example, United States is 'nausa', China is 'aschn'.

Why are some years missing?

OEC does not have data for every country and year. Try a different year or check the OEC website directly to confirm availability.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is OEC?	OEC is the Observatory of Economic Complexity, a trade data platform built on UN Comtrade and BACI datasets. It provides export and import values by country and product.
What data does this Actor return?	Each record includes the year, reporter country, partner country, product code, and trade value. The exact fields depend on the product breakdown you choose.
Do I need an API key?	No. The Actor reads the public OEC data directly, so no registration or token is required.
What product classifications are supported?	You can choose HS4, HS6, or SITC4. HS codes are available from 1995 to 2024, SITC from 1962 to 2022.
Can I filter by a specific HS code?	Yes. Enter a 4 or 6 digit HS code in the hsCode field to return only records for that product.
How do I get bilateral trade between two countries?	Set the reporter to the exporting country and the partner to the importing country. Leave partner blank for world totals.
What is the maximum number of records?	You can collect up to 1,000,000 records per run. Set maxItems to your desired limit.
Can I export the data?	Yes. The Actor outputs CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, so you can use it in any analysis tool.
Is the data current?	The Actor queries the OEC website live, so it returns the latest available data for the selected year.
What if I get no results?	Check your filters. The year may be outside the supported range for the product classification, or the HS code may not exist for that reporter.

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Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Observatory of Economic Complexity. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.