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Economics vocabulary · Markets, Supply and Demand

Surplus

Meaning in economics, with examples

/ˈsɜːpləs/nounCore term

In economics, surplus means: An amount left over: in a market, more supply than demand at the current price; in public finance or trade, more income than spending.

In Turkish: fazla, arz fazlası, bütçe fazlası

How it is used

Watch the context: a market surplus (excess supply) pushes prices down; a budget surplus means the government collects more than it spends; a trade surplus means exports are larger than imports. Welfare analysis also uses consumer surplus and producer surplus.

Example sentences

  1. A surplus of wheat after the record harvest pushed prices down.

  2. The country has run a trade surplus with its neighbour for ten years.

  3. Consumer surplus is the gap between what buyers are willing to pay and what they actually pay.

Common collocations

  • budget surplus
  • trade surplus
  • consumer surplus
  • run a surplus
  • a surplus of
  • shortageA situation in which buyers want more of a product than sellers offer at the current price, often because the price is held below equilibrium.
  • equilibriumA situation in which supply and demand are equal, so there is no pressure for the price or the quantity to change.
  • budget deficitThe gap that appears when a government spends more than it collects in taxes and other revenue during a year; it is usually covered by borrowing.
  • trade deficitThe gap that appears when the value of a country's imports of goods, and sometimes services, is greater than the value of its exports over a period.

More terms: Markets, Supply and Demand

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not financial advice.