September 2023 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2023-10-13

Prices for U.S. imports ticked up 0.1 percent in September following a 0.6-percent advance the previous month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Higher fuel prices drove the September increase. U.S. export prices rose 0.7 percent in September, after advancing 1.1 percent in August. The price index for U.S. imports increased 0.1 percent in September as higher fuel prices more than offset lower nonfuel prices. U.S. import prices last declined on a monthly basis in June, and advanced 0.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023. Despite the recent increases, prices for U.S. imports declined 1.7 percent for the year ended in September. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices advanced 4.4 percent in September, after rising 8.8 percent in August. The index has not recorded a 1-month decline since May 2023. Higher prices for petroleum in September more than offset a drop in natural gas prices.