Bureau of Labor Statistics figures covering the 12-month stretch through September 2026 put the cost of goods entering the country at 8.1 per cent above where they stood a year earlier — a pace of annual growth not recorded since July 2022. Measured against August's 0.5 per cent uptick, the cost of goods brought into the United States climbed by 1.1 per cent through September.

Upward pressure on the cost of both fuel and non-fuel imports drove the month-over-month rise, according to the BLS. That 8.1 per cent yearly gain marked the steepest pace of growth over any comparable 12-month window since import prices climbed 8.8 per cent through the period ending July 2022.

Costs tied to fuel imports climbed 4.8 per cent through September, reversing a 0.2 per cent dip the month before and a steeper 6.8 per cent pullback recorded in July. Petroleum and petroleum product costs climbed 4.6 per cent across September, while the price of imported natural gas edged up by 1.6 per cent over the same period.

Fuel import costs ran 34.5 per cent higher in September 2026 than they had twelve months earlier, measured on a year-over-year basis. Imported petroleum and petroleum products became 35.4 per cent more expensive over that same stretch.

Import costs for natural gas climbed 96.5 per cent across the 12-month period ending in September, outpacing the increases seen in other commodities. Natural gas import prices posted their steepest year-on-year climb since a 149.5 per cent jump recorded in the twelve months through June 2022.

Non-fuel import costs climbed 0.7 per cent through September, leaving them 6.0 per cent above the level recorded in the same month of 2025. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that prices on non-fuel imports held steady or moved upward every month since August 2025, with no monthly drop recorded in that stretch.

Export prices for goods shipped out of the United States climbed 2.2 per cent through September, building on a 1.2 per cent advance recorded the month before. Goods arriving from China carried a 0.7 per cent higher price tag in September, a monthly gain not matched since December 2021. Chinese import prices climbed 3.1 per cent across the year ending September 2026.

Japanese import costs edged up 0.6 per cent during September, with the full-year comparison showing a 1.1 per cent advance over the same month twelve months earlier. Goods arriving from the European Union carried a 0.3 per cent higher price tag in September, with products sourced from Mexico and Canada posting steeper gains of 0.6 per cent and 1.3 per cent in that order.

Fuel and non-fuel categories alike contributed to the broader uptick in American import prices captured in Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, with outbound goods also posting year-over-year gains.