Starting in 2014, I have been working with students and colleagues to create a database of trade statistics for the nineteenth century with a focus on the British World. I am posting the core of the database, which has been error checked and included all British imports for every fifth year from 1856 to 1906. The sources are a series of documents in the Nineteenth Century and Twentieth Century House of Commons Sessional Papers, with titles that begin with ‘Annual Statement of the Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom’ until 1870 and the ‘Annual Statement of Trade of United Kingdom’ through to the twentieth century. They were all accessed through the ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers. Everything in this database has been error checked, but if you ever want to double-check you can simply sum the quantities or values from individuals sources excluding “World” and compare it with the total from the World to see if they match.

Funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (Canada)