A Tweet claims trade makes up close to 30% of GDP today vs. 19.8% in 1990. Let’s investigate the claim.

Total #exports and #imports is close to 30% of #GDP compared to 20% in 1990 pic.twitter.com/Xwxqng4ubC

— Kathy Jones (@KathyJones) March 7, 2018

The Tweet makes the claim by adding up real exports and real imports and divides the total by real GDP. I created a chart in Fred.

(Real Exports + Real Imports) / Real GDP

I confirm the numbers but the idea seems silly. Why?

Exports add to GDP while imports subtract from GDP.

(Real Exports – Real Imports) / Real GDP

(Real Exports – Real Imports) / Real GDP Details

The chart shows NET exports as a percentage of GDP.