US exports reached their highest monthly total ever in January with US$167.7bn worth of goods and services leaving the country, according to the US’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The US’s main exporting markets, defined as those importing an average of US$6bn a year in US goods, saw soaring percentage increases in US goods purchased.

Turkey led the pack, with an increase of 50.6%, while Panama, Taiwan, Peru and Brazil all saw increases of more than 35%. The previous record amount for one month was US$165.7bn and was set in July 2008, when US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told the US congress that a low dollar was hurting imports.

The value of the US dollar, the world’s reserve currency, has declined by 14% in nine months.