Trade Balance
a.k.a. Trade surplus/deficit
The value of a country's exports minus its imports.
In plain English
The value of a country's exports minus its imports.
The trade balance is a country's shopping receipt with the world: what it sold abroad minus what it bought. Sell more than you buy and you run a trade surplus; buy more than you sell and you run a deficit.
In theory, a surplus supports a currency because foreigners need to buy it to pay for exports. In practice, investment flows often matter more, so the link is loose in the short term. Trade balance figures are released monthly by most big economies.
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