Difference Between Import and Export

The key difference between import and export is that import refers to buying goods or services from any other country to the home country while export refers to selling goods or services of the home country to another country of the world.

Import and export are terms that are commonly heard in international trade and these are activities that are carried out by all countries of the world. Since no country in the world is self-sufficient, all countries both import as well as export.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Import
3. What is Export
4. Side by Side Comparison – Import vs Export in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Import?

Import means receiving items or services to the home country from another country on the financial basis. Basically, import is buying products and services from other countries. It directly affects the economic status of the receiving country. A lot of countries import the crude oil and fuel from Middle East countries that are rich with them. Therefore, the importing countries have to spend a lot of their national income to import these necessary resources to their countries.

Figure 01: Container Ship importing Goods

It is the endeavor of all countries of the world to achieve parity in their exports and imports. But in reality, it is never so and this is where the balance of payment creeps in. In an ideal situation, where exports equal imports, a country can utilize the money earned through exports to import goods and services it requires. Today there is so much of interdependency in the world that companies and nations prefer to import items that they cannot manufacture or which prove to be costlier if they try to produce themselves.

Therefore, there should be a balance between a country’s imports and exports. If a country imports more and exports less, that means there is an imbalance in buying and selling resources of that country and it can lead to serious economic fluctuations of the country.

What is Export?

Export means sending items or services from one country to the home country on a financial basis. If a country is rich in a particular ore as it has natural reserves of that ore in the form of mines, the country can export that ore to other countries of the world. This is particularly true of oil-producing countries that are exporters of crude oil. However, all such countries are dependent on other countries for many other products and services which is why they need to import such items from other countries of the world.

Exports earn money for a country, while imports mean expenses. For example, India is a country that has a huge number of qualified manpower in the IT sector. This manpower exports its services to companies doing business in other countries thus earning foreign currency for India. On the other hand, India is dependent for oil and arms on other countries and needs to import them for its energy requirements as well as its army. It can spend the foreign currency it earns through exports to import goods and services it is deficient in. This is the basic concept behind exports and imports.

In fact, there are companies that specialize in exporting and importing and can arrange goods for any company from a foreign country on a short notice as it has a well developed liaising network. Similarly, the massive companies in China export products in large quantities making China, the leading exporting country in the worlds.

What is the Difference Between Import and Export?

Import and Export are significant activities in the international trade. Import basically means buying goods and services from other countries to fulfill the demand for the goods or services that are absent or in shortage in the home country.

On the contrary, Export basically means selling goods and services from the home country to other countries so that their global presence and their global market will increase and new demands for their domestic goods and services will similarly flourish.

Summary – Import vs Export

Both import and export are essential for the development of any country as no nation is self-sufficient. The difference between import and export is that import means buying goods or services from a different country to the home country while export means selling goods or services of the home country to another country in the world. Therefore, there should be a proper balance between the imports and exports of a country since problem arises when imports are too high while exports are too low leading to a serious balance of payment in a country.