Okuzeka
International Trade vocabulary · Trade Agreements and Policy

Trade deficit

Meaning in international trade, with examples

nounCommon term

In international trade, trade deficit means: The amount by which the value of a country's imports is greater than the value of its exports over a certain period.

In Turkish: dış ticaret açığı, ticaret açığı

How it is used

A standard term in economic news and statistics, usually announced every month. The opposite is a trade surplus, and both are described by the balance of trade. People say the deficit widened or narrowed.

Example sentences

  1. The trade deficit narrowed in June as energy imports fell.

  2. Exports grew faster than imports, so the trade deficit fell for the third month in a row.

Common collocations

  • widening trade deficit
  • the trade deficit narrowed
  • trade deficit with
  • trade surplus
  • exportThe sale of goods or services to buyers in another country; also a product that is sold abroad in this way.
  • importThe purchase of goods or services from sellers in another country and bringing them in; also a product that is bought from abroad.
  • exchange rateThe price of one currency expressed in another, for example how many Turkish lira you need to buy one euro.
  • WTOWorld Trade Organization: the international organization based in Geneva that sets the rules for trade between its member countries and helps settle trade disputes.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Trade Agreements and Policy

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: