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About the FRED Blog

These brief articles use data and graphing features in FRED®, our free data service. They illustrate timely economic concepts and best practices for using data. Views expressed are not necesarily those of the St. Louis Fed or Federal Reserve System.

The takeaway

Global merchandise exports do not change smoothly over time. They ebb and flow and undergo large changes in relatively short spans.

The data

The FRED graph above uses recently added data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas's Database of Global Economic Indicators to track the value of exported goods between April 1981 and August 2026.

The data show the year-over-year percent growth rate in exports from the US (black line), other advanced economies (red line), emerging markets (blue line), and the world excluding the US (gray line).

Three broad takeaways

Ebbs and flows are global

Trade swings more than GDP

The value of the dollar shapes the trade picture

Where exports stand now

As of July 2026, when the latest worldwide data are available, global export growth is picking up. It remains to be seen whether it will average double-digit growth, as during the 1990s and 2000s, or return to meager single-digit growth, as during the 2010s.

How this graph was created: Search FRED for “Merchandise Exports to World from Advanced Economies (Excluding U.S.), Aggregated Using U.S. Trade Weights.” Click “Edit Graph” and select the “Add Line” tab to search for “Merchandise Exports to World from Emerging Markets, Aggregated Using U.S. Trade Weights.” Don’t forget to click “Add data series.” Repeat this last step to search for and add the other two series: “Merchandise Exports to World from U.S., Aggregated Using U.S. Trade Weights” and “Merchandise Exports to World from World (Excluding U.S.), Aggregated Using U.S. Trade Weights.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.

About the FRED Blog

These brief articles use data and graphing features in FRED®, our free data service. They illustrate timely economic concepts and best practices for using data. Views expressed are not necesarily those of the St. Louis Fed or Federal Reserve System.