The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $71.1 billion in February, up $3.3 billion from $67.8 billion in January, revised.
Deficit: | $71.1 Billion | +4.8%° |
Exports: | $187.3 Billion | -2.6%° |
Imports: | $258.3 Billion | -0.7%° |
Next release: Tuesday, May 4, 2021 (°) Statistical significance is not applicable or not measurable. Data adjusted for seasonality but not price changes Source: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, April 7, 2021 |
COVID-19 Impact on International Trade in Goods and Services
The global pandemic and the economic recovery continued to impact international trade in February 2021. The full economic effects of the pandemic cannot be quantified in the statistics because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.
Exports, Imports, and Balance (exhibit 1)
February exports were $187.3 billion, $5.0 billion less than January exports. February imports were $258.3 billion, $1.7 billion less than January imports.
The February increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $2.8 billion to $88.0 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of $0.5 billion to $16.9 billion.
Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $56.5 billion, or 68.6 percent, from the same period in 2020. Exports decreased $36.2 billion or 8.7 percent. Imports increased $20.3 billion or 4.1 percent.
Three-Month Moving Averages (exhibit 2)
The average goods and services deficit increased $0.7 billion to $68.6 billion for the three months ending in February.
Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit increased $25.9 billion from the three months ending in February 2020.
Exports (exhibits 3, 6, and 7)
Exports of goods decreased $4.8 billion to $131.1 billion in February.
Exports of goods on a Census basis decreased $4.8 billion.
Net balance of payments adjustments increased $0.1 billion.
Exports of services decreased $0.2 billion to $56.1 billion in February.
Imports (exhibits 4, 6, and 8)
Imports of goods decreased $2.0 billion to $219.1 billion in February.
Imports of goods on a Census basis decreased $2.1 billion.
Net balance of payments adjustments increased $0.1 billion.
Imports of services increased $0.3 billion to $39.2 billion in February.
Real Goods in 2012 Dollars – Census Basis (exhibit 11)
The real goods deficit increased $3.0 billion to $99.1 billion in February.
Revisions
Revisions to January exports
Revisions to January imports
Goods by Selected Countries and Areas: Monthly – Census Basis (exhibit 19)
The February figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with South and Central America ($3.7), Brazil ($1.4), Hong Kong ($1.2), Singapore ($0.6), United Kingdom ($0.2), and Saudi Arabia ($0.1). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($30.3), European Union ($19.0), Mexico ($6.8), Germany ($5.3), Japan ($4.5), Canada ($4.0), Italy ($3.2), France ($2.7), Taiwan ($2.4), South Korea ($2.3), and India ($1.7).
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All statistics referenced are seasonally adjusted; statistics are on a balance of payments basis unless otherwise specified. Additional statistics, including not seasonally adjusted statistics and details for goods on a Census basis, are available in exhibits 1-20b of this release. For information on data sources, definitions, and revision procedures, see the explanatory notes in this release. The full release can be found at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/index.html or www.bea.gov/data/intl-trade-investment/international-trade-goods-and-services. The full schedule is available in the Census Bureau’s Economic Briefing Room at www.census.gov/economic-indicators/ or on BEA’s website at www.bea.gov/news/schedule.
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Next release: May 4, 2021, at 8:30 A.M. EDT
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, March 2021
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Notice
Upcoming Updates to Goods and Services
With the releases of the “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, April 2021” report (FT-900) and the FT-900 Annual Revision on June 8, 2021, statistics on trade in goods on both a Census basis and a balance of payments (BOP) basis will be revised beginning with 2016, and statistics on trade in services will be revised beginning with 2013. The revised statistics for goods on a BOP basis and for services will also be included in the “U.S. International Transactions, First Quarter 2021 and Annual Update” report and in the international transactions interactive database, both to be released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on June 23, 2021.
Revised statistics on trade in goods will reflect:
Revised statistics on trade in services will reflect:
A preview of BEA’s 2021 annual update of the international transactions accounts will appear in the April 2021 issue of the Survey of Current Business.
If you have questions, please contact the U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, on (800) 549-0595, option 4, or at eid.international.trade.data@census.gov or BEA, Balance of Payments Division, at InternationalAccounts@bea.gov.
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