January 2023 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2023-02-17

U.S. import prices decreased 0.2 percent in January following a revised 0.1-percent drop the previous month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Lower fuel prices in January more than offset higher nonfuel prices. In contrast, prices for U.S. exports advanced 0.8 percent in January, after falling 3.2 percent in December. Prices for U.S. imports fell 0.2 percent in January and have not recorded a monthly advance since June 2022. Overall, U.S. import prices declined 4.9 percent from June 2022 to January 2023. Despite the recent declines, the price index for U.S. imports advanced 0.8 percent over the past year. The 12-month increase in January was the smallest over-the-year rise since import prices fell 0.3 percent from December 2019 to December 2020. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices declined 4.9 percent in January following a 4.4-percent drop the previous month. Lower petroleum and natural gas prices contributed to the January decrease.