Econ Grapher

Exports

What are Exports?
Exports are the sum total of goods and services produced in one country and sold in another. The sale of such goods and services adds to the producing country's GDP, in the form of the net export function. Exports are an important factor in global trade, which has become increasingly important in economic growth over the years. While most countries export to a greater or lesser extent, looking at the statistics, some export significantly more than others e.g. the large ones Germany and China. Smaller countries like Singapore and Hong Kong usually report large export volumes relative to their size due to their role as a shipping hub.

How does it relate to Markets?
Given the importance of international trade to the global economy, and the importance of exports to a country's GDP growth, exports are an important macro-indicator. This is particularly the case for export related stocks, and for stocks in countries that are particularly export dependent/focused e.g. Japan, China, Germany. Strong export numbers will generally be positive. Also, for large exporters; a significant drop-off in exports could signal an economic slowdown (driven by lower demand in the countries it sells to).

Protectionism
One of the biggest impediments to export growth and international trade is protectionism. Protectionism for the global economy is a negative sum game, that often protects the least efficient at the cost of the most efficient. Protectionism comes in many forms e.g. tariffs, quotas, import bans, intentional bureaucratic slowdowns, subsidies to domestic exporters, etc. Growing protectionism is bad for global economic growth.

Exports and the Economy
As noted, exports play a key role in an economy, and tie into a series of other key metrics. For example the trade balance is the difference between exports and imports (net exports in the GDP formula), which is an often reported item, and ties in to a nations balance of payments; specifically the current account. Obviously one country's exports is another country's imports. But notably, the sum total of global imports and exports are not equal, this is likely due to shipping costs, taxes, loss, and so-on. Exports are important to pay attention to as a key determinant of economic growth.

Sources and further reading:
CIA World Factbook - Country Comparison :: Exports
U.S. Exports
EU Export Helpdesk
A Brief History of International Trade Policy
Comparative Advantage
World Bank Export Statistics
Economics Web Institute - Exports
Economics Help - Economic Growth and Exports

Graph Library:
Metric - Exports

Original Source: http://www.econgrapher.com/encyclopedia-exports.html

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