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Inventory-to-Sales Ratio
Business inventories measured against monthly sales.
1.28
Ratio · latest, May 2026
vs prior month▼ 1.5%
vs year ago▼ 7.9%
| Year | Inventory-to-Sales Ratio |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 1.51 |
| 1993 | 1.49 |
| 1994 | 1.44 |
| 1995 | 1.45 |
| 1996 | 1.43 |
| 1997 | 1.42 |
| 1998 | 1.42 |
| 1999 | 1.39 |
| 2000 | 1.42 |
| 2001 | 1.39 |
| 2002 | 1.37 |
| 2003 | 1.31 |
| 2004 | 1.28 |
| 2005 | 1.25 |
| 2006 | 1.28 |
| 2007 | 1.28 |
| 2008 | 1.47 |
| 2009 | 1.28 |
| 2010 | 1.27 |
| 2011 | 1.26 |
| 2012 | 1.29 |
| 2013 | 1.30 |
| 2014 | 1.35 |
| 2015 | 1.43 |
| 2016 | 1.39 |
| 2017 | 1.35 |
| 2018 | 1.40 |
| 2019 | 1.43 |
| 2020 | 1.34 |
| 2021 | 1.31 |
| 2022 | 1.43 |
| 2023 | 1.40 |
| 2024 | 1.39 |
| 2025 | 1.36 |
| 2026 | 1.28 |
Hover the line to read any month. Drag across the chart to zoom; double-click to reset.
Source: FRED · ISRATIO · series · Jan 1992 to May 2026 · latest-revised
Refreshed Jul 31, 2026 from FRED.
Business inventories measured against monthly sales.
Total business inventories divided by total business sales.
Source: FRED · May 2026 · Full lesson → Learn
About the bands. Shaded spans are NBER-dated US recessions, drawn as factual overlays. They mark when the economy contracted, not why. Lining an event up with a move is not evidence it caused the move.