Net exports of goods and services under Barack Obama

Exports minus imports of goods and services. A negative number is a trade deficit.

Over 2009-01-20 to 2017-01-19, measured in Billions of Dollars:

Term average

-515.72 Billions of Dollars

At the start

-358.37 Billions of Dollars

At the end

-533.42 Billions of Dollars

Change

-175.05 Billions of Dollars

Low

-602.27 Billions of Dollars (2012-01-01)

High

-358.37 Billions of Dollars (2009-04-01)

Coverage

100% (32 observations)

Reading this series over a presidential term

Nominal and unscaled, so it grows in absolute size as the economy and world trade grow. It also moves with the dollar and with domestic demand: a strong economy buys more imports, which widens the deficit.

A single net figure hides both sides — a deficit that widens because exports collapsed is a different event from one that widens because consumers bought more. It says nothing about which industries or regions were affected.

These are the observed values over the window above, and nothing more. This site does not say which direction is better, and none of this is a claim that Barack Obama caused the number to move.

What Net exports of goods and services measures · Barack Obama: the whole record · Chart it · Compare with another president · The source at FRED