U.S.-Cuba goods balance favors the United States by $1.095 billion
U.S. exports totaled $1.0965 billion in the first nine months of 2026, while purchases of Cuban goods amounted to $600,000.
During the first nine months of 2026, merchandise sent from the United States to Cuba reached $1.0965 billion, an increase of nearly 91% from the same period a year earlier. The total was more than $280 million above exports for all of 2025, which reached $809.6 million. The series, which began in 1992, had never previously crossed the billion-dollar mark.
Growth was concentrated in the most recent months measured. July ended at $148.9 million, August rose to $202.5 million and September reached $220 million, the highest monthly figure in the series. September therefore surpassed the record set one month earlier.
Trade in the opposite direction was far smaller: U.S. purchases of Cuban merchandise reached $600,000 over the nine months. The difference between the two flows produced a $1.0959 billion balance in favor of the United States. The figures are nominal and not seasonally adjusted; they describe the monetary value of trade, not the physical volume of products.
A U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council breakdown for January through August estimates about $386.1 million in nonagricultural goods intended primarily for the private sector and Cuban citizens. Vehicles, motorcycles and parts accounted for $106.7 million within that category. Food and other agricultural products reached $314.3 million without separating sales to private and state buyers.
Humanitarian donations totaled $176.1 million over those eight months, including $31.1 million in August. Although included in export statistics, they are not purchases made in Cuba. Fuel sales during the same period totaled $231.7 million; August accounted for $74.8 million, about 37% of that month's exports. Products included diesel, gasoline and lubricants.
By volume, fuel shipments reached 562,000 barrels in August, above May's 467,000 and below June's 778,000, according to figures attributed to the Energy Information Administration. AUGE consultant Oniel Díaz Castellanos linked crossing the billion-dollar threshold to small and medium-sized private businesses. The overall total, however, does not identify buyers, so the entire amount cannot be attributed to the private sector.