Information on the release schedules and revision procedures for U.S. international trade statistics.
Last Published: 7/21/2016

Economic data is regularly revised to apply corrections and adjustments to previously published statistics. Statistics are also revised to redistribute monthly data that was received too late for inclusion in the month of transaction. Preliminary statistics are reported monthly approximately 35 days after the end of the calendar month and on a year-to-date basis in a joint release by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis: “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services (FT900)”.


Goods (Census Basis):

  • Monthly Revisions – Each month, a preliminary estimate for the current data month and a revised estimate for the preceding data month are released.
     

  • Annual Revisions – Each June, exports and imports of goods on a Census basis are revised for the prior three years.


Goods (BoP Basis) and Services:

  • Monthly Revisions – Each month, a preliminary estimate for the current month and a revised estimate for the immediately preceding month are released. After the initial revision, no further revisions are made to a month until more complete source data become available in March, June, September, and December.
     

  • Quarterly Revisions – The releases in March, June, September, and December contain revised estimates for the previous six months to incorporate more comprehensive and updated source data.
     

  • Annual Revisions – Each June, historical data are revised to incorporate newly available and revised source data, changes in definitions and classifications, and changes in estimation methods. Seasonally adjusted data are also revised to reflect recalculated seasonal and trading-day adjustments.

U.S. Census Bureau, "Guide to Foreign Trade Statistics." Bureau of Economic Analysis, "U.S. International Economic Accounts: Concepts and Methods."