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U.S. import and export prices increase over the year ending September 2018

October 22, 2018

From September 2017 to September 2018, U.S. import prices rose 3.5 percent and have not recorded an over-the-year decrease since the index fell 0.2 percent in October 2016. For the year ended September 2018, export prices rose 2.7 percent, despite decreasing over the past quarter.

12-month percent change in U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes, September 2008–September 2018
Month Imports Exports
All imports Fuel imports Nonfuel imports All exports Agricultural exports Nonagricultural exports

Sep 2008

13.1% 38.5% 6.1% 7.0% 20.1% 5.8%

Oct 2008

4.9 4.5 4.8 4.0 6.0 3.8

Nov 2008

-5.9 -32.9 2.6 -0.3 -2.7 0.0

Dec 2008

-10.1 -47.0 1.2 -2.9 -10.9 -2.2

Jan 2009

-12.5 -51.4 -0.3 -3.4 -10.0 -2.7

Feb 2009

-12.7 -49.8 -1.2 -4.5 -15.4 -3.4

Mar 2009

-14.9 -50.7 -2.8 -6.7 -22.0 -5.0

Apr 2009

-16.4 -50.8 -3.8 -6.7 -17.5 -5.4

May 2009

-17.3 -50.7 -4.1 -6.6 -14.7 -5.6

Jun 2009

-17.5 -47.6 -4.5 -6.6 -13.1 -5.9

Jul 2009

-19.1 -50.6 -5.3 -8.3 -22.5 -6.6

Aug 2009

-15.3 -41.0 -5.1 -6.2 -14.1 -5.3

Sep 2009

-12.0 -34.0 -4.2 -5.6 -16.7 -4.4

Oct 2009

-5.6 -14.2 -3.1 -3.6 -9.7 -2.9

Nov 2009

3.4 26.4 -1.1 0.4 0.7 0.3

Dec 2009

8.6 62.2 0.3 3.4 9.2 2.9

Jan 2010

11.4 77.8 1.3 3.5 4.4 3.3

Feb 2010

11.3 72.0 1.9 3.4 2.0 3.6

Mar 2010

11.2 61.7 2.7 4.9 7.7 4.6

Apr 2010

11.2 54.4 3.2 5.5 3.5 5.7

May 2010

8.5 33.5 3.5 5.6 1.5 5.8

Jun 2010

4.3 10.7 2.9 3.7 -2.6 4.4

Jul 2010

4.9 14.7 2.8 3.9 2.3 4.1

Aug 2010

3.8 8.4 2.7 4.1 6.4 3.9

Sep 2010

3.6 8.1 2.5 4.9 12.2 4.3

Oct 2010

3.9 9.5 2.5 5.8 16.2 4.8

Nov 2010

4.1 8.0 3.0 6.5 20.3 5.1

Dec 2010

5.3 14.2 3.0 6.5 20.5 5.1

Jan 2011

5.6 13.9 3.4 7.0 22.7 5.4

Feb 2011

7.6 21.1 3.8 8.7 33.6 6.3

Mar 2011

10.3 31.0 4.4 9.5 34.0 7.1

Apr 2011

11.9 37.3 4.6 9.2 33.9 6.8

May 2011

12.9 43.7 4.5 9.1 30.4 7.0

Jun 2011

13.6 46.1 5.0 10.1 31.4 8.0

Jul 2011

13.7 44.8 5.4 9.8 26.4 8.2

Aug 2011

12.9 40.3 5.4 9.4 23.2 8.0

Sep 2011

12.7 40.9 5.4 9.4 22.7 7.9

Oct 2011

11.1 34.3 4.8 6.3 11.5 5.8

Nov 2011

10.1 32.4 3.7 4.8 5.4 4.8

Dec 2011

8.5 24.9 3.4 3.6 1.0 4.0

Jan 2012

6.9 19.8 2.9 2.6 -0.9 3.2

Feb 2012

5.1 13.4 2.4 1.8 -5.7 2.8

Mar 2012

3.5 7.9 2.0 1.1 -5.4 1.9

Apr 2012

0.8 -0.5 1.3 0.7 -3.1 1.2

May 2012

-0.8 -5.5 0.9 -0.2 -1.6 0.0

Jun 2012

-2.5 -11.5 0.6 -2.1 -5.8 -1.6

Jul 2012

-3.3 -13.4 0.0 -1.3 3.9 -1.9

Aug 2012

-1.8 -6.1 -0.4 -0.9 7.1 -1.9

Sep 2012

-0.6 -1.5 -0.4 -0.6 6.4 -1.5

Oct 2012

0.0 -0.8 0.1 1.5 11.9 0.2

Nov 2012

-1.4 -6.2 0.2 0.8 10.6 -0.3

Dec 2012

-2.0 -7.9 0.0 1.1 13.4 -0.3

Jan 2013

-1.5 -6.0 0.0 1.2 10.7 0.0

Feb 2013

-0.6 -2.5 0.1 1.5 13.4 0.0

Mar 2013

-2.1 -6.6 -0.4 0.2 8.7 -0.8

Apr 2013

-2.7 -8.1 -0.7 -0.8 4.3 -1.5

May 2013

-1.8 -4.3 -1.1 -0.8 5.0 -1.6

Jun 2013

0.1 3.8 -1.0 0.8 9.6 -0.2

Jul 2013

0.9 7.7 -1.0 0.3 3.1 -0.2

Aug 2013

0.0 4.1 -1.0 -1.1 -5.6 -0.6

Sep 2013

-0.7 1.2 -1.2 -1.6 -6.3 -0.9

Oct 2013

-1.6 -2.2 -1.3 -2.2 -5.9 -1.7

Nov 2013

-1.8 -4.1 -1.2 -1.5 -6.6 -0.9

Dec 2013

-1.1 -1.2 -1.2 -1.0 -6.4 -0.4

Jan 2014

-1.3 -2.2 -1.1 -1.0 -5.3 -0.5

Feb 2014

-1.1 -0.1 -1.2 -1.0 -5.9 -0.5

Mar 2014

-0.5 1.0 -0.7 0.4 -1.4 0.5

Apr 2014

-0.4 0.8 -0.6 -0.1 2.2 -0.2

May 2014

0.5 3.8 -0.2 0.6 1.4 0.5

Jun 2014

1.2 6.2 0.0 0.2 -1.2 0.3

Jul 2014

0.9 2.9 0.5 0.4 -2.7 0.7

Aug 2014

-0.3 -3.5 0.7 0.4 -1.6 0.5

Sep 2014

-1.4 -7.9 0.4 -0.4 -3.7 -0.1

Oct 2014

-2.1 -11.2 0.3 -0.7 -4.6 -0.3

Nov 2014

-3.1 -15.9 0.0 -1.7 -4.2 -1.4

Dec 2014

-5.6 -29.1 0.0 -3.0 -5.2 -2.8

Jan 2015

-8.9 -43.8 -0.9 -5.0 -6.4 -4.9

Feb 2015

-10.2 -47.9 -1.1 -5.8 -9.7 -5.3

Mar 2015

-10.8 -47.7 -1.8 -6.7 -13.7 -5.8

Apr 2015

-10.5 -45.3 -2.2 -6.3 -15.7 -5.3

May 2015

-9.7 -40.1 -2.2 -6.0 -17.0 -4.7

Jun 2015

-9.9 -40.1 -2.3 -5.8 -16.8 -4.5

Jul 2015

-10.5 -42.9 -2.6 -6.2 -14.4 -5.3

Aug 2015

-11.4 -48.2 -2.9 -7.1 -13.9 -6.3

Sep 2015

-11.6 -50.8 -3.0 -7.3 -13.8 -6.6

Oct 2015

-10.7 -47.4 -3.2 -6.7 -11.8 -6.1

Nov 2015

-9.5 -44.3 -3.2 -6.5 -12.7 -5.8

Dec 2015

-8.3 -41.0 -3.4 -6.6 -12.9 -5.9

Jan 2016

-6.5 -37.7 -2.9 -5.9 -12.8 -5.1

Feb 2016

-6.6 -40.8 -2.8 -6.1 -10.2 -5.8

Mar 2016

-6.1 -36.7 -2.5 -6.2 -10.7 -5.8

Apr 2016

-5.3 -31.7 -2.0 -5.1 -9.1 -4.7

May 2016

-5.2 -30.6 -1.8 -4.5 -5.2 -4.4

Jun 2016

-4.7 -24.5 -1.8 -3.5 -1.3 -3.8

Jul 2016

-3.7 -21.3 -1.2 -3.0 -2.6 -3.0

Aug 2016

-2.2 -12.9 -0.9 -2.4 -3.5 -2.3

Sep 2016

-1.1 -3.7 -0.6 -1.5 -3.1 -1.3

Oct 2016

-0.2 3.1 -0.3 -1.1 -2.7 -0.8

Nov 2016

0.2 6.1 -0.2 -0.2 -1.1 -0.2

Dec 2016

1.9 24.7 0.2 1.3 -0.3 1.4

Jan 2017

3.8 56.9 0.2 2.4 1.3 2.4

Feb 2017

4.7 68.9 0.6 3.2 2.1 3.3

Mar 2017

4.1 50.9 0.9 3.4 5.4 3.2

Apr 2017

3.6 36.9 1.0 3.1 4.6 3.0

May 2017

2.3 20.4 0.9 1.4 -0.1 1.6

Jun 2017

1.4 5.1 1.1 0.6 -3.8 1.0

Jul 2017

1.2 6.3 0.7 0.9 -1.8 1.1

Aug 2017

2.0 14.4 1.0 2.3 1.7 2.4

Sep 2017

2.7 19.4 1.3 2.8 2.1 2.8

Oct 2017

2.4 12.4 1.4 2.7 3.6 2.6

Nov 2017

3.5 24.8 1.5 3.1 2.1 3.3

Dec 2017

3.2 21.8 1.3 2.8 1.9 2.8

Jan 2018

3.4 18.5 1.9 3.3 1.5 3.5

Feb 2018

3.3 16.0 2.0 3.1 0.7 3.4

Mar 2018

3.3 16.4 1.9 3.4 2.8 3.5

Apr 2018

3.5 21.5 1.7 3.7 1.6 3.9

May 2018

4.5 30.1 1.8 5.0 4.8 4.9

Jun 2018

4.7 38.5 1.5 5.3 5.3 5.3

Jul 2018

4.8 40.8 1.4 4.3 -2.0 5.0

Aug 2018

3.8 32.4 0.9 3.5 -1.6 4.0

Sep 2018

3.5 30.0 0.6 2.7 -2.3 3.3

For the year ended September 2018, prices for overall fuel imports increased 30.0 percent, driven by a 32.1-percent advance in petroleum prices. The price index for natural gas fell 1.3 percent over the past 12 months. 

Prices for nonfuel imports increased 0.6 percent for the year ended September 2018. The increase was driven mostly by a 4.3-percent rise in nonfuel industrial supplies and materials, although higher prices for consumer goods and automotive vehicles also contributed to the increase. In contrast, prices for foods, feeds, and beverages fell over the same period and prices for capital goods recorded no change.

From September 2017 to September 2018, agricultural export prices decreased 2.3 percent. Declining prices for soybeans, fruits, meat, and nuts all contributed to the 12-month decrease. Prices for nonagricultural exports increased 3.3 percent for the year ended September 2018 and have not recorded an over-the-year decline since November 2016. 

These data are from the International Price program. Import and export price changes may be revised in each of the 3 months after original publication. For more information, see "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — September 2018." See more charts on import and export price trends in Charts related to the latest "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes" news release.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, U.S. import and export prices increase over the year ending September 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/us-import-and-export-prices-increase-over-the-year-ending-september-2018.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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