October 2021 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2021-11-16

U.S. import prices rose 1.2 percent in October following a 0.4-percent advance in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Higher fuel and nonfuel prices contributed to the October increase. Prices for U.S. exports advanced 1.5 percent in October, after rising 0.4 percent in September and 0.3 percent in August. The price index for U.S. imports increased 1.2 percent in October, the largest monthly advance since a 1.3- percent rise in May. Prior to October, import prices advanced 0.5 percent from June to September. Prices for U.S. imports rose 10.7 percent from October 2020 to October 2021, the largest over-the-year increase since June 2021. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices advanced 8.6 percent in October following a 3.9-percent increase the previous month. In October, higher petroleum and natural gas prices contributed to the advance. Petroleum prices rose 8.1 percent in October, the largest monthly increase since March 2021.