Imports of camping apparel and gear for the first five months of the year rose 19 percent above their level for the same period last year, well ahead of imports of overall consumer goods or toys, games and sporting goods, which actually declined during the period, according to the U.S. government.
Imports of camping apparel and gear reached $734 million in May, up 0.1 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis from April, but were running 19 percent ahead of last year-to-date, according to estimates released last week. That compares to 11.0 percent year-to-date growth rate for overall consumer goods and 0.2 percent decline in imports of toys, game and sporting goods.
Imports of camping apparel and gear for the first five months of the year reached $3.58 billion, up from $3.00 billion in the comparable 2010 period.
May imports of footwear, meanwhile, rose 4.3 percent from the April period to $1.57 billion and were running 14.3 percent ahead of last year on a year-to-date basis. By comparison, imports of overall consumer goods fell by 2.0 percent, or $884 million, in May from April, but were still running nearly 11 percent ahead of their year-to-date levels last year.
Exports of sports apparel and gear, meanwhile, reached $61 million in May, up 7.0 percent from April. On a year-to-date basis, those exports were running 14.2 percent ahead of their level last year. Exports of overall consumer goods, meanwhile, fell 3.0 percent from April and were running 6.1 percent ahead of 2010 on a year-to-date basis.
