January 2024 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2024-02-15

Prices for U.S. imports advanced 0.8 percent in January following a 0.7-percent decline the previous month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Higher prices for both nonfuel and fuel imports contributed to the overall increase. U.S. export prices also advanced 0.8 percent in January, after decreasing 0.7 percent in December. The price index for U.S. imports rose 0.8 percent in January, the first 1-month increase since September 2023 and the largest monthly advance since the index rose 2.9 percent in March 2022. Despite the January increase, U.S. import prices fell 1.3 percent over the past year and have not risen on a 12-month basis since January 2023. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices increased 1.2 percent in January following declines of 7.7 percent in December, 6.3 percent in November, and 3.9 percent in October. In January, higher petroleum prices more than offset lower natural gas prices.