Imports (Trade Balance)

Imports (Trade Balance) are the total value of physical goods purchased from the rest of the world, recorded on the basis of customs data. Goods are usually measured on a CIF (cost, insurance and freight) basis and registered when they physically enter the country. Unlike imports in the Balance of Payments or National Accounts, this measure includes only goods, excludes services and does not adjust for economic ownership, merchanting or processing abroad. This Latin Macro Watch indicator from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), on data.iadb.org, helps researchers, policymakers and journalists track merchandise import flows across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Coverage

Imports (Trade Balance) are available for 22 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency, covering 1990–2026. Values can be expressed in millions of USD and as a percentage of GDP, with month-on-month (MoM %), quarter-on-quarter (QoQ %) and year-on-year (YoY %) transformations.

Sources

The series draws on central banks and national statistical agencies, including Banco Central do Brasil — via Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada — Banco de Mexico (Banxico), Banco Central de Chile, Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE) - Colombia and INDEC - Argentina.

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Format	CSV
Language	en
Country	Argentina Bahamas Trinidad & Tobago Belize Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia El Salvador Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Panama Uruguay Venezuela Barbados Paraguay Peru Suriname
Data notes	What do Imports (Trade Balance) measure? They measure the total value of physical goods purchased from the rest of the world, recorded from customs data and usually on a CIF (cost, insurance and freight) basis when goods physically enter the country. How do they differ from National Accounts or Balance of Payments imports? This measure includes only goods, excludes services, and does not adjust for economic ownership, merchanting or processing abroad, so it can differ from National Accounts or Balance of Payments imports. How many countries and time periods are covered? The indicator covers 22 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency, spanning 1990 to 2026. What units and transformations are available? Values are available in millions of USD and as a percentage of GDP, with month-on-month (MoM %), quarter-on-quarter (QoQ %) and year-on-year (YoY %) transformations. Where does the data come from? The series draws on central banks and national statistical agencies, including Banco de Mexico (Banxico), Banco Central de Chile, Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE) - Colombia and INDEC - Argentina. How do I cite this indicator? Cite as: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Latin Macro Watch — "Imports (Trade Balance)". data.iadb.org/dataset/latin-macro-watch-dataset.