July 2022 U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes — 2022-08-12

U.S. import prices decreased 1.4 percent in July, after advancing 0.3 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Lower fuel and nonfuel prices in July contributed to the decline in U.S. import prices. The price index for U.S. exports fell 3.3 percent in July following a 0.7-percent advance the previous month. Prices for U.S. imports declined on a monthly basis in July for the first time since December 2021, decreasing 1.4 percent. The decline was the largest drop in import prices since the index fell 2.6 percent in April 2020. U.S. import prices rose 8.8 percent over the past 12 months, the smallest over-the-year increase since the index advanced 7.1 percent from March 2020 to March 2021. (See table 1.) Fuel Imports: Import fuel prices declined 7.5 percent in July following 6.2-percent increases in June and May. The July decrease was the first 1-month drop since a 7.7-percent decline in December 2021.