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                         U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES - DECEMBER 2015

U.S. import prices declined 1.2 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, 
driven by a drop in fuel prices. The December decrease followed a 0.5-percent fall the previous month. 
Prices for U.S. exports also decreased in December, declining 1.1 percent, after a 0.7-percent drop in 
November. 

Imports

All Imports: Overall import prices fell 1.2 percent in December, the largest monthly drop for the index 
since a 1.8-percent decline in August. While most of the December decrease was attributable to falling fuel 
prices, nonfuel prices continued to trend down as well. Import prices fell 8.2 percent in 2015, the largest 
calendar-year decline since the index fell 10.1 percent in 2008. 

Fuel Imports: Fuel prices decreased 9.5 percent in December, following a 3.5-percent drop in November. 
The December decline was the largest 1-month fall in the index since a 12.7-percent decrease in August and 
was led by a 10.0-percent drop in petroleum prices. Natural gas prices also declined in December, falling 
6.8 percent. The price index for import fuel decreased 40.5 percent in 2015, after a 29.1-percent drop the 
previous year. The decline over the past 12 months was the largest calendar-year decrease in fuel prices 
since the index fell 47.0 percent in 2008. For the year ended in December, petroleum prices declined 41.3 
percent and natural gas prices decreased 43.3 percent. 

All Imports Excluding Fuel: Prices for nonfuel imports fell 0.3 percent in December and have not 
recorded a monthly advance since the index rose 0.1 percent in July 2014. Lower prices for nonfuel 
industrial supplies and materials; foods, feeds, and beverages; and each of the major finished goods 
categories all contributed to the overall drop in nonfuel prices. The price index for nonfuel imports declined 
3.4 percent over the past year, the biggest calendar-year drop since the index was first published in 2001. 

Table A. Percent change in Import and Export Price Indexes, selected categories

Exports

All Exports: The price index for U.S. exports decreased 1.1 percent in December, the largest 1-month drop 
since a 1.4-percent decline in August. In December both agricultural and nonagricultural prices contributed 
to the overall decline. Prices for U.S. exports decreased 6.5 percent in 2015, the largest calendar-year drop 
since the index was first published in 1983. 

Agricultural Exports: Prices for agricultural exports decreased 1.0 percent in December, following a 0.9-
percent decrease in November. Nut prices, which fell 4.0 percent in December after a 6.1-percent decline 
the previous month, were the largest contributor to both the December and November drops in overall 
agricultural prices. In December, falling prices for wheat, corn, and meat also factored into the decrease. 
Agricultural export prices fell 13.0 percent over the past year, the third consecutive calendar-year decline 
and the largest since the index was first published in 1985. 

All Exports Excluding Agriculture: Nonagricultural prices fell 1.0 percent in December, after a 0.7-
percent decline the previous month. In December, lower prices for nonagricultural industrial supplies and 
materials, capital goods, and consumer goods all contributed to the overall drop in nonagricultural prices. 
Prices for nonagricultural exports decreased 5.9 percent in 2015, the largest calendar-year decline since the 
index was first published in 1985. 


                                     SELECTED DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

Import Prices

Imports by Locality of Origin: The price index for imports from China edged down 0.1 percent in 
December and has not recorded a monthly increase since the index rose 0.1 percent in December 2014. 
Import prices from China declined 1.7 percent in 2015, the largest calendar-year decrease since the index 
fell 1.8 percent in 2009. Prices for imports from Japan declined 0.1 percent in December and 2.9 percent 
over the past year. The drop over the past 12 months followed decreases of 1.4 percent in 2014 and 3.4 
percent in 2013. Import prices from Canada, the European Union, and Mexico also declined in December, 
falling 2.8 percent, 0.4 percent, and 0.7 percent, respectively. All three indexes were impacted by falling 
fuel prices. 

Nonfuel Industrial Supplies and Materials: Nonfuel industrial supplies and materials prices decreased 1.2 
percent in December, following a 0.8-percent decline the previous month. Both drops were driven by lower 
unfinished metals prices which fell 3.3 percent in December and 2.6 percent in November. 

Finished Goods: Each of the major finished goods areas declined in December. Prices for capital goods 
declined 0.3 percent, and the price indexes for both consumer goods and automotive vehicles edged down 
0.1 percent. Capital goods prices fell 2.5 percent over the past year, the largest 12-month drop since the 
index declined 2.6 percent in November 2002 and the biggest calendar-year decrease since the index 
declined 2.7 percent in 2001. 

Foods, Feeds, and Beverages: Import foods, feeds, and beverages prices edged down 0.1 percent for the 
second consecutive month in December. The December decline was led by lower prices for meat and food 
oils which more than offset rising prices for vegetables and fruits. 

Transportation Services: Import air passenger fares declined 0.6 percent in December, following increases 
of 3.7 percent in November and 5.2 percent in October. The December decrease was driven by an 11.6-
percent drop in European fares. Overall air passenger fares fell 9.9 percent in 2015, the largest calendar-year 
drop since the index was first published in 1989. Import air freight prices decreased 2.7 percent in 
December and 2.6 percent over the past year. 

Export Prices

Nonagricultural Industrial Supplies and Materials: Prices for nonagricultural industrial supplies and 
materials declined 3.1 percent in December, led by an 8.6-percent drop in export fuel prices. 

Finished Goods: Finished goods prices were mostly down in December. Capital goods prices declined 0.2 
percent in December. Prices for consumer goods fell 0.4 percent for the month, and 2.4 percent over the past 
12 months. The decrease in 2015 was the largest calendar-year decline since the index was first published in 
1983. 

Transportation Services: Export air passenger fares advanced 4.1 percent in December, the largest 
increase since the index rose 8.3 percent in December 2014. Despite the advance, export air passenger fares 
declined 15.0 percent in 2015, the largest calendar-year drop since the index was first published in 1987. 
The price index for export air freight edged down 0.1 percent in December and increased 0.4 percent over 
the past year. 

Import and Export Price Index data for January 2016 are scheduled for release on Friday, February 12, 2016 
at 8:30 a.m. (EST). 

					     TECHNICAL NOTE


Import and Export Merchandise and Services Price Indexes - All indexes use a modified Laspeyres 
formula and are not seasonally adjusted. Price indexes are reweighted annually, with a 2-year lag in the 
weights. Published series use a base year of 2000=100 where possible. More detailed index series and 
additional information may be obtained at www.bls.gov/mxp or by calling (202) 691-7101.

Merchandise Goods Classification Systems - The merchandise price indexes are published using three 
classification systems. Items are classified by end use according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis 
Classification System, by industry according to the North American Industry Classification System 
(NAICS), and by product category according to the Harmonized System (HS). While classification by 
end use and product category are self-explanatory, some notes are in order for classifying items by 
industry. In the NAICS imports and exports tables, items are classified by output industry, not input 
industry. As an example, NAICS import index 326 (plastics and rubber products manufacturing) include 
outputs such as manufactured plastic rather than inputs such as petroleum. The NAICS classification 
structure also matches the classification system used by the Producer Price Index (PPI) to produce the 
NAICS primary products indexes.

Import Price Indexes - Products have been classified by the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States Annotated (TSUSA). Import prices are based on U.S. dollar prices paid by the U.S. importer. The 
prices are generally either "free on board" (f.o.b.) foreign port or "cost, insurance, and freight" (c.i.f.) 
U.S. port transaction prices, depending on the practices of the individual industry. The index for crude 
petroleum is calculated from data collected by the U.S. Department of Energy.  

Export Price Indexes - Products have been classified by the Harmonized Schedule B classification 
system of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The prices used are generally either "free alongside ship" 
(f.a.s.) factory or "free on board" (f.o.b.) transaction prices, depending on the practices of the individual 
industry. Prices used in the grain index, excluding rice, are obtained from the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture.

Services Price Indexes - Starting in September 2008, the import air passenger fares indexes represent 
changes in the average revenue per passenger received by foreign carriers from U.S. residents and are 
calculated from data obtained from an airline consulting service. These data include tickets sold by 
travel agencies and travel websites. Tickets sold directly by the airlines are excluded, as are frequent 
flyer tickets generally. Starting in January 2008, the export air passenger fares indexes represent changes 
in the average revenue per passenger received by U.S. carriers from foreign residents and are calculated 
from data collected directly from airlines. These data include frequent flyer tickets and those sold by 
consolidators. Taxes and fees are included in the import air passenger fares indexes and excluded from 
the export air passenger fares indexes. The air freight indexes are calculated from data collected directly 
from airlines. These data exclude mail and passenger baggage. The scope of the service being priced is 
the movement of freight from airport to airport only, and does not include any ground transportation or 
port service. The air freight indexes are presented using two definitions: balance of payments (which 
represent transactions between U.S. and foreign residents) and international (which represent 
transactions inbound to and outbound from the U.S.). Fact sheets specifying detailed information for 
each services industry are available at www.bls.gov/mxp under "MXP Publications."

Import Indexes by Locality of Origin - Prices used in these indexes are a subset of the data collected 
for the import price indexes. Beginning with January 2002, the indexes are defined by locality of origin 
using a nomenclature based upon the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). 
Nonmanufactured goods are defined as NAICS 11 and 21, and manufactured goods are defined as 
NAICS 31-33. 
 
Revision Policy - To reflect the availability of late reports and corrections by respondents, monthly data 
may be revised in each of the 3 months after original publication. After 3 months, no further data 
revisions take place. For example, data first published in the January release will be subject to revision 
in the releases for February, March, and April.

Uses of the Data - The primary use of the indexes is to deflate trade statistics, notably the foreign trade 
sector of the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) constructed by the Department of 
Commerce. Other published indexes are useful for general market analysis. For trade in international 
services, balance of payments indexes are used for deflating NIPA, while international indexes are more 
appropriate for market analysis. Merchandise and services indexes also can be used to study U.S. 
competitiveness and to compute price elasticities, and the merchandise import indexes by country or 
region of origin are useful in terms of trade analysis.

Email Subscription - The U.S. import and export price indexes news release is available through an 
email subscription service at www.bls.gov/bls/list.htm. 
 
Additional Information - More detailed data are available on the Import/Export Price Indexes home 
page at www.bls.gov/mxp. For import and export price indexes data requests, send an email to 
mxpinfo@bls.gov.   

Information from this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.  
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