International Transactions Accounts (ITA) · Exports, imports and balance of goods and services, quarterly, seasonally adjusted
How much do US residents sell abroad, and how much do they buy?
The quarter ended : of the 7 lines, the change over a year was largest for Exports of goods, up 16.3%, and smallest for Imports of services, up 5.2%.
Trade in goods and services, balance, each quarter
- Balance on goods and services-199.8-374.8 to -112.4
- Balance on goods-291.3-456.5 to -186.9
- Balance on services91.557.6 to 92.1
Trade in goods and services, exports, each quarter
- Exports of goods and services967.2459.6 to 967.2
- Exports of goods640.3288.3 to 640.3
- Exports of services326.9171.3 to 326.9
Trade in goods and services, imports, each quarter
- Imports of goods and services1167.0614.0 to 1213.5
- Imports of goods931.6511.6 to 991.8
- Imports of services235.4102.4 to 235.4
Each row is one line of the page over the last ten years, one quarter to a point, on a scale shared by the rows of the tab, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a quarter with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the quarter and the value.
Observed .
Right now
Over a year to the second quarter of 2026, of the 7 lines on this page the change was largest for Exports of goods, up 16.3%, and smallest for Imports of services, up 5.2%.
Of these lines, 7 rose, 0 fell and 0 did not change over the year (ours, from the published values).
By lineOver a year, ours
Trade in goods and services, change over a year, by line
- Balance
- Exports
- Imports
Each bar is the change in one line over a year, the largest first, with its rank at the left and its newest value under the figure. A line with its own page links it from its name. A change below zero runs to the left of the zero line. The colour says which section of the page a line is in.
Observed .
Trade in goods and services, change over a year in each quarter
| Line | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance on services | +2.5 | +4.8 | +0.1 | −4.5 | +4.1 | +0.7 | +12.7 | +15.5 |
| Exports of goods and services | +5.0 | +4.2 | +5.4 | +6.3 | +5.0 | +7.2 | +11.6 | +13.3 |
| Exports of goods | +2.2 | +0.5 | +3.7 | +6.3 | +3.1 | +8.5 | +14.6 | +16.3 |
| Exports of services | +10.5 | +11.4 | +8.6 | +6.2 | +8.3 | +5.0 | +6.4 | +7.9 |
| Imports of goods and services | +9.5 | +9.8 | +23.2 | +2.3 | +0.3 | −1.5 | −9.8 | +12.3 |
| Imports of goods | +8.5 | +8.8 | +26.0 | +0.3 | −2.1 | −3.6 | −12.9 | +14.2 |
| Imports of services | +13.9 | +14.0 | +12.1 | +10.6 | +9.9 | +6.6 | +4.1 | +5.2 |
Each chip is one quarter's change from the same quarter a year earlier. The mark in its middle is zero: a fill to the right of it is a rise and a fill to the left a fall. A longer, brighter fill is a larger change, in five steps up to 14.2 and over. Every chip prints its figure and sign.
Observed .
Understanding trade balance
Where it stands today
The largest change over a year was Exports of goods, up 16.3%, in the second quarter of 2026.
What do the lines of this page measure?
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) counts every transaction between US residents and foreign residents in the international transactions accounts, the balance of payments. This page shows the trade in them: the exports of goods and services (what US residents sell to foreign residents), the imports (what they buy from foreign residents), and the balance, which is exports less imports. A negative balance is a trade deficit and a positive balance a surplus.
Read more
Goods are things that cross a border, such as cars, crops and fuel. Services are things such as travel, transport, finance and the use of patents and software. Each of the three groups, the balance, the exports and the imports, is shown for goods and services together and for each part. Imports are shown as the amount bought, a positive number; BEA subtracts them in the balance.
What 500metrics adds: the change over a year of every line, ranked across the page; the last ten years of every line as rows of small charts; and a table of the change over a year in each of the last eight quarters.
The numbers behind the chart
What is the latest value of each line?9 lines, in the sections of the page
| Line | Section | Quarter | Value | Change over a year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance on goods and services | Balance | $−199.8 billion | n/a | n/a | |
| Balance on goods | Balance | $−291.3 billion | n/a | n/a | |
| Balance on services | Balance | $91.5 billion | +15.5% | 2 | |
| Exports of goods and services | Exports | $967.2 billion | +13.3% | 4 | |
| Exports of goods | Exports | $640.3 billion | +16.3% | 1 | |
| Exports of services | Exports | $326.9 billion | +7.9% | 6 | |
| Imports of goods and services | Imports | $1,167.0 billion | +12.3% | 5 | |
| Imports of goods | Imports | $931.6 billion | +14.2% | 3 | |
| Imports of services | Imports | $235.4 billion | +5.2% | 7 |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- BEA publishes a quarter about three months after it ends, and revises past quarters in later releases and in an annual update. This page shows the newest estimate of every quarter, so an earlier quarter can differ from the figure first published.
- Each value is the total of one quarter, seasonally adjusted. It is not an annual rate: a year of trade is about four of these quarters.
- The goods are on the basis of the balance of payments: BEA adjusts the Census Bureau's trade figures for coverage and valuation, so they differ a little from the Census Bureau's monthly report. Trade with single countries is not on this page.
- A percent change is not shown where the value a year earlier was zero or below, as a percent of such a number is not defined; a balance that is negative shows none.
- The changes and the ranks are ours, worked out from the values BEA publishes; a change is in percent.
- This product uses the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Data API but is not endorsed or certified by BEA.
Observed . Checked .
How to cite this
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, International Transactions Accounts and International Investment Position, Exports, imports and balance of goods and services, quarterly, seasonally adjusted, through the second quarter of 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How much do US residents sell abroad, and how much do they buy?", https://500metrics.com/trade-balance.
Can the data be downloaded?trade-balance.csv
Download the last ten years of every line as CSV: 369 rows, to , 18,582 bytes.
Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.
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