Connecticut

Connecticut Exports & Foreign Investment

 

In 2023, Connecticut exported not a record $15.8 billion of goods to the world.  In 2021, exports from Connecticut supported an estimated 51 thousand jobs.

 

Exports from Connecticut and Jobs

• Connecticut was the 29^th largest state exporter of goods in 2023.
• In 2023, Connecticut goods exports were $15.8 billion, a decrease of 4 percent ($602 million) from its export level in 2013 (latest data available).
• Goods exports accounted for 4.7 percent of Connecticut GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
• Connecticut goods exports in 2021 (latest data available) supported an estimated 51 thousand jobs. Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Connecticut and Jobs

• In 2023, Connecticut exported $14.6 billion of manufactured products.
• Connecticut exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 49 thousand jobs in 2021 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for $5.4 billion of Connecticut's total goods exports in 2023.
• Other top manufacturing exports are machinery, except electrical ($3.1 billion), computer and electronic products ($1.2 billion), electrical equipment, appliances and components ($1.1 billion), and fabricated metal products, not elsewhere specified ($1.1 billion).

 

Exports Sustain Thousands of Connecticut Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 5,360 companies exported from Connecticut locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 4,680 (87 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
•  Small and medium-sized firms generated 47.8 percent of Connecticut's total exports of goods in 2022.

 

Connecticut Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was Germany. Connecticut exported $2.1 billion in goods to Germany in 2023, representing 13 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Germany was followed by Canada ($2.1 billion), Netherlands ($1.1 billion), United Kingdom ($1.1 billion), and Mexico ($1.1 billion).
• Connecticut’s exports to major world areas included:

 

• 33 percent of Connecticut’s goods exports ($5.2 billion) in 2023 went to current FTA partners. 

Agriculture in Connecticut depends on Exports

• Connecticut is the country’s 43^rd largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $286 million in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2022 (latest data available according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture).^[1]
• Top Agricultural exports were:

 

International Investment Creates Jobs in Connecticut

• In 2021 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 112,100 Connecticut workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Connecticut included the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany. 
• Foreign investment in Connecticut was responsible for 7.9 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2021.

Connecticut’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

In 2022 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Connecticut recorded goods exports: New York-Newark-Jersey City ($120.6 billion), Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown ($10.2 billion), Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk ($7.6 billion), New Haven-Milford ($2.9 billion), and Worcester ($2.8 billion).