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Import prices down 1.7 percent over the past 12 months

February 21, 2019

U.S. import prices decreased 1.7 percent over the 12 months ended January 2019, the largest over-the-year decline since August 2016.

12-month percent change in U.S. import prices, selected categories of goods, January 2019
Category Percent change, January 2018 to January 2019 Relative importance, December 2018

All commodities

-1.7% 100.000%

Foods, feeds, & beverages

-2.0 6.039

Industrial supplies & materials

-6.4 23.606

Capital goods

-0.1 28.200

Automotive vehicles, parts & engines

-0.4 15.861

Consumer goods, excluding automotives

0.3 26.294

Prices for industrial supplies and materials (which include petroleum and petroleum products) fell 6.4 percent over the January 2018–January 2019 period. Industrial supplies and materials accounted for 24 percent of imports.

The price index for consumer goods, excluding automotives, declined 0.3 percent over this 12-month period. Consumer goods had a relative importance of 26 percent.

Prices for foods, feeds, and beverages, which made up 6 percent of U.S. imports, decreased 2.0 percent.

Prices for capital goods, which accounted for 28 percent of imports, were little changed over the year.

These data are from the International Price program. See "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — January 2019" to learn more. Also see more charts of import and export price data in Charts related to the latest "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes" news release. Import and export price changes may be revised in each of the 3 months after original publication.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Import prices down 1.7 percent over the past 12 months at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/import-prices-down-1-point-7-percent-over-the-past-12-months.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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