Chapter 19 Data Apps

International Trade

Explore the data of Chapter 19 without any code. Every chart below is live: hover over it to read the values, and use its buttons, menus and sliders to change what it shows.

← Back to Chapter 19: International Trade

Some basic facts about trade

Fig. 1: U.S. import and export shares of GDP

Hover over a line to read each year’s share; imports have been above exports every year since 1976, and the gap is the trade deficit.

Sources. Data: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), National Income and Product Accounts, via FRED: Exports of goods and services (EXPGSA), Imports of goods and services (IMPGSA) and Gross domestic product (GDPA). Prepared file: data/ch19/us_trade.csv, checked against data/ch19/fig19-1.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.1 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Fig. 1, beyond the United States: exports and imports around the world

Choose a group of economies from the menu; solid lines are exports and dashed lines imports, and double-clicking the chart shows extreme values.

Sources. Data: World Bank, World Development Indicators: Exports of goods and services, % of GDP (NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS) and Imports of goods and services, % of GDP (NE.IMP.GNFS.ZS); World Bank, country and lending groups (regions and income groups of the menus). Prepared files: data/ch19/wdi_trade.csv and data/ch19/countries.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.1 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Fig. 2, beyond the United States: trade balances around the world

Choose a group of economies from the menu; the dotted lines are each economy’s 1976–2024 average, and clicking a name in the legend hides it.

Sources. Data: World Bank, World Development Indicators: External balance on goods and services, % of GDP (NE.RSB.GNFS.ZS); World Bank, country and lending groups (regions and income groups of the menus). Prepared files: data/ch19/wdi_trade.csv and data/ch19/countries.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.2 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Fig. 3: The trade balance around the world

Move the slider to change the year; the green bars measure each balance in percent of U.S. GDP, so surpluses abroad mirror the U.S. deficit.

Sources. Data: Groningen Growth and Development Centre, Penn World Table 11.0 (doi:10.34894/FABVLR) and Penn World Table 10.01, the textbook’s version (Feenstra, Inklaar and Timmer 2015, American Economic Review); variables csh_c, csh_i, csh_g (shares of GDP) and cgdpo (GDP at current PPPs). Prepared files: data/ch19/pwt_trade.csv and data/ch19/pwt_trade_world.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.3 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Fig. 3, the whole world on a map: trade balances of 185 economies

Press the play button or drag the slider to change the year; red is a deficit, blue a surplus, and the colors stop at ±20 percent.

Sources. Data: Groningen Growth and Development Centre, Penn World Table 11.0 (doi:10.34894/FABVLR) (Feenstra, Inklaar and Timmer 2015, American Economic Review); variables csh_c, csh_i and csh_g. Prepared file: data/ch19/pwt_trade_world.csv (see the data notes). Map: inspired by Fig. 19.3 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Trade and growth around the world

Fig. 4: The trade balance in rapidly growing countries

Move the slider to change the last year of the average, which starts in 2000; all but India run surpluses, not deficits.

Sources. Data: Groningen Growth and Development Centre, Penn World Table 11.0 (doi:10.34894/FABVLR) and Penn World Table 10.01, the textbook’s version (Feenstra, Inklaar and Timmer 2015, American Economic Review); variables csh_c, csh_i and csh_g. Prepared files: data/ch19/pwt_trade.csv and data/ch19/pwt_trade_world.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.4 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Fig. 4, look at your data: the yearly balances behind the averages

Hover over a line to read each year’s balance; Singapore’s and Ireland’s swing widely, so their averages depend on the years chosen.

Sources. Data: Groningen Growth and Development Centre, Penn World Table 11.0 (doi:10.34894/FABVLR) (Feenstra, Inklaar and Timmer 2015, American Economic Review); variables csh_c, csh_i and csh_g. Prepared file: data/ch19/pwt_trade.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.4 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Fig. 4, beyond the textbook’s five: growth and trade in 176 economies

Hover over a dot to see the economy; the fitted line slopes down, but the link is weak and fast growers sit on both sides of zero.

Correlation: -0.22

Sources. Data: Groningen Growth and Development Centre, Penn World Table 11.0 (doi:10.34894/FABVLR) (Feenstra, Inklaar and Timmer 2015, American Economic Review); variables csh_c, csh_i, csh_g, rgdpna (real GDP) and pop (population). Prepared file: data/ch19/pwt_trade_world.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.4 and the discussion in Chapter 19 of Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

The twin deficits

Fig. 5: U.S. investment, budget deficit, and trade deficit

Move the slider to pick an episode; click “Domestic saving” in the legend to hide it, since its gap with investment is the trade deficit.

Sources. Data: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), National Income and Product Accounts, via FRED: Gross private domestic investment (GPDIA), Federal government net saving (FGDEF), Gross domestic product, quarterly (GDP), Net exports of goods and services (A019RC1A027NBEA) and Gross domestic product (GDPA). Prepared file: data/ch19/fig19-5.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.5 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Fig. 5, beyond the United States: twin deficits in the G20 economies

Pick an economy from the menu (the G20 members); the title gives the correlation of its budget and trade deficits, which can be negative.

Sources. Data: World Bank, World Development Indicators: Gross capital formation, % of GDP (NE.GDI.TOTL.ZS) and External balance on goods and services, % of GDP (NE.RSB.GNFS.ZS); International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026), General government net lending/borrowing, % of GDP (GGXCNL_NGDP). Prepared file: data/ch19/twin_deficits_world.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.5 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Net foreign assets and foreign debt

Fig. 6: Net international investment position of the United States

Hover over a line to read the position; below zero is a net foreign debt, and the dotted line adds up the trade balances since 1976.

Sources. Data: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), International Investment Position and National Income and Product Accounts, via FRED: U.S. net international investment position (IIPUSNETIA), Gross domestic product (GDPA) and Net exports of goods and services (A019RC1A027NBEA); the July 2023 vintages of IIPUSNETIA and GDPA via ALFRED. Prepared file: data/ch19/us_trade.csv, checked against data/ch19/fig19-6.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.6 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.

Fig. 6, beyond the United States: creditors and debtors around the world

Choose a group of economies from the menu; double-click the chart to show the extreme positions of a few financial centers and oil exporters.

Sources. Data: Philip R. Lane and Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, External Wealth of Nations database, Brookings release of February 2026 (Lane and Milesi-Ferretti 2018, IMF Economic Review); World Bank, country and lending groups (regions and income groups of the menus). Prepared files: data/ch19/niip_world.csv and data/ch19/countries.csv (see the data notes). Chart: inspired by Fig. 19.6 in Jones (2024), Macroeconomics, 6th ed.