Trade gaps widen worldwide despite gains for some exporters

Several economies saw wider trade deficits or smaller surpluses in 2025. The US goods deficit reached $1.24 trillion, while Australia's goods surplus shrank 39%; some exporters still made gains.

  • Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Afghanistan: Goods trade deficits widened to US$3.03 billion, US$7.52 billion and US$2.68 billion respectively. In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan, rising exports did not keep pace with imports.
  • Australia, Qatar and Russia: Australia's goods surplus shrank 39% to US$27 billion as imports rose and exports fell. Qatar's goods surplus fell 13.5% to US$51.2 billion. Russia's goods and services surplus dropped to US$64.5 billion from US$93.8 billion.
  • Belgium, Hungary and Czechia: Exports contracted 0.3% in Belgium and 1.1% in Hungary. Czech exports grew 3.9%, but exports' value relative to GDP fell in all three economies.
  • Zambia: Goods and services exports grew 17.2% to US$14.94 billion. Imports also rose, but the trade surplus widened from US$689 million to US$883 million.
  • Malaysia and New Zealand: Goods export values rose 13.9% and 9.5% respectively. Price-adjusted growth was smaller, at 4.8% in Malaysia and 1.4% in New Zealand.
  • United States: Goods exports rose 5.7% to $2.18 trillion, but imports increased by more dollars. The goods trade deficit widened to $1.24 trillion.
  • Angola: Exports and imports together fell to 34.65% of GDP from 49.85%. This shows trade taking a smaller share of the economy, not necessarily a fall in trade volumes.

Across these economies, export gains did not consistently translate into stronger trade balances, and rising export values sometimes masked much smaller price-adjusted gains.