U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes

May 10, 2012
U.S. import prices declined 0.5 percent in April, following a 1.5 percent increase in March. The April decrease was driven by lower fuel prices which more than offset a small increase in nonfuel prices. The price index for overall exports rose 0.4 percent in April after a 0.8 percent increase the previous month.
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Archived

• Archived News Releases

MXP Databases

Database Name	Special Notice	Top Picks	One Screen	Multi- Screen	Tables	Text Files
Import/Export Price Indexes (International Price Program - IPP)

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• Series Report—Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.

• Text files (FTP) - For those who want it all. Download a flat file of the entire database or large subset of the database.
  • Import/Export Price Indexes

MXP Tables

• History Tables: Complete historical index information
• Index and Percent Change Tables: Indexes and percent changes for the four most recent months
• Percent Change Analysis Tables: Historical percent changes for one-month, three-month, and five separate 12-month periods
• U.S. Import Price Indexes: All Imports and All Imports Excluding Petroleum, 12-month changes

Publications

• Addendum
• Technical Note
• BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 15, International Price Indexes
• Explanation of Import/Export Series Codes
• Measuring Price Change in the U.S. Import/Export Price Indexes for:
• Air Freight (HTML) (PDF)
• Air Passenger Fares (HTML) (PDF)
• Inbound Crude Oil Tanker Freight (HTML) (PDF)
• Inbound Ocean Liner Freight (HTML) (PDF)
• Export Postsecondary Education (HTML) (PDF)
• Export Travel and Tourism (HTML) (PDF)

MXP Notices

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the U.S. Import and U.S. Export price indexes?
2. How are the Import/Export Price Indexes used?
3. What goods and services do the Import/Export Price Indexes measure?
4. What classification systems are used to aggregate Import/Export price indexes?
5. How are Import/Export Price Index data obtained?
6. What prices are used to calculate the Import/Export Price Indexes?
7. Are adjustments made for changes in the price or quality of a measured item?
8. How are the Import/Export Price Indexes weighted?
9. How are the Import/Export Price Indexes constructed?
10. How are the Import/Export Price Indexes interpreted?
11. When are Import/Export Price Index data available?
12. Are there limitations to the Import/Export Price Indexes?
13. How does the International Price Program handle survey items that are priced in foreign currencies?
14. How do unit value indexes differ from the Import/Export Price Indexes?
15. Does the Bureau of Labor Statistics provide data for countries other than the U.S.?
16. Where can I obtain international price information?
17. Where can I obtain more information about the Import/Export Price Indexes?
    

All MXP FAQs »

Contacts

Technical Assistance:

• Telephone: (202) 691-7101
• E-Mail: Contact us
• Fax (202) 691-7179
• Mail:

Division of International Prices
Bureau of Labor Statistics
2 Massachusetts Avenue N.E.
Rm. 3955
Washington, DC 20212

Media Contact:

• Telephone: (202) 691-7902

Regional Office Assistance:

Information about the Import/Export Price Indexes and other BLS data may be obtained from any of the eight BLS Regional Economic Analysis and Information offices.

BLS Email Subscription Service:

Subscribers to the BLS Email Subscription Service can receive the Import/Export Price Indexes and other BLS news releases; data summaries; and new publication notifications by email. More information about this free service may be found on the BLS News Service Subscription Page.

BLS Programs

• International Labor Comparisons—Comparative information by country on productivity and unit labor costs; compensation; labor force, employment, and unemployment; and consumer prices.

Non-BLS Programs

• Useful Links, Statistical Agencies & Organizations