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agricultural exchange rate data set

overview
The ERS data set contains annual and monthly data for exchange rates important to U.S. agriculture. It includes both nominal and real exchange rates for 80 countries (plus the European Union) as well as real trade-weighted exchange rate indexes for many commodities and aggregations. All series are updated every other month. Data series start at the beginning of 1970 and run to the last available current monthly information, which is typically 2 months behind the current date.

feature
The agriculture baseline briefing room provides analysis of USDA's long-term projections for U.S. and global agriculture.

questions and answers
Frequently asked questions about the agricultural exchange rate data set.

data files
The data set is divided into country and commodity spreadsheets. Each component of the data set is available as an Excel spreadsheet. Exchange rates are expressed in foreign currency per U.S. dollar.

country spreadsheets—

commodity spreadsheets—The commodity trade-weighted exchange rates are divided into three component sets of weights based on: U.S. exports, other countries' agricultural exports to the world, and countries which export agricultural products to the United States.

exchange rate weights—Weights are average dollar shares of U.S. exports, other countries' exports to the world, and U.S. imports for the relevant commodity or commodity aggregation between 1998-2000.

  • Exchange Rate Weights includes annual average trade-weighted exchange rate indexes for the 54 monthly commodity indexes.

release date
The data are updated every other month around the middle of the month. See the 2004 release calendar for specific dates.

data set revision
The Agricultural Exchange Rate Data Set was revised in June 2000. The revision involved two major components. First, the country list was expanded from 63 to 80 countries. Some countries (e.g. the Leeward and Windward Islands) were dropped because they were not considered to be serious trading partners. Many Central and South American countries were added because it was felt that these regions were underrepresented in the previous country set. Some European and African countries were also added. The countries were also reorganized by region instead of alphabetically.

Many new exchange rates were also added under the existing markets and competitors areas, and a new area was added for suppliers. All exchange rates were recalculated back to January 1970. Finally, the weights were revised from a 1990 base to a 1994-96 base. In December 2002, the base was further revised to 1998-2000. The composition of trade has changed significantly since the 1990s, and different countries are weighted more or less significantly in the revised weighting scheme. For example, the relative importance of Canada and Mexico has increased while that of Europe has decreased.

related data
The agricultural baseline database provides longrun, 10-year projections found in USDA's annual baseline report. The database covers projections for major field crops (corn, sorghum, barley, oats, wheat, rice, soybeans, and upland cotton), and livestock (beef, pork, poultry and eggs, and dairy).

For international data on real gross domestic product, population, real exchange rates on a 2000 base, and other variables, see the ERS international macroeconomic data set. Contains historical data from 1971 to 2003 and projections to 2013.

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for more information, contact: Mathew Shane
web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
page updated: September 16, 2004

 

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