Connecticut

Connecticut Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2025, Connecticut exported a record $17.7 billion of goods to the world. In 2023, exports from Connecticut supported an estimated 49 thousand jobs (latest data available).

Exports from Connecticut and Jobs

• Connecticut was the 27th largest state exporter of goods in 2025.
• In 2025, Connecticut goods exports were $17.7 billion, an increase of 16 percent ($2.5 billion) from its export level in 2015.
• Connecticut goods exports in 2023 supported an estimated 49 thousand jobs (latest data available). Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Connecticut and Jobs

• In 2025, Connecticut exported $16.2 billion of manufactured products.
• Connecticut exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 48 thousand jobs in 2023 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category was transportation equipment, which accounted for $6.2 billion of Connecticut total goods exports in 2025.
• Other top manufacturing exports were machinery, except electrical ($3.5 billion), computer & electronic products ($1.2 billion), other fabricated metal products ($1.2 billion), and chemicals ($1.2 billion).

Exports Sustain Thousands of Connecticut Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 5,237 companies exported from Connecticut locations in 2023 (latest data available). Of those, 4,568 (87 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 31.6 percent of Connecticut total exports of goods in 2023.

Connecticut's Largest Export Markets

• The state’s largest export market was Canada. Connecticut exported $2.1 billion in goods to Canada in 2025, representing 12 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Germany ($2.0 billion), France ($1.5 billion), the Netherlands ($1.4 billion), and Mexico ($1.2 billion).
• Connecticut goods exports to major world areas included:

• 30 percent of Connecticut goods exports ($5.4 billion) in 2025 went to current FTA partners.  

Connecticut's Top Agricultural Exports

• Connecticut was the country’s 43rd largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $301 million in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2024 (latest data available according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture).1
• Top agricultural exports were:

	2024 Value	2024 State Rank
other plant products	$253 million	26
other livestock products	$19 million	44
dairy products	$16 million	34
other poultry products	$9 million	39
beef and veal	$2 million	44

International Investment Creates Jobs in Connecticut

• In 2023 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed an estimated 116 thousand Connecticut workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Connecticut included the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Connecticut’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

• In 2024 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Connecticut recorded goods exports: Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford ($12 billion), Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury ($6 billion), New Haven ($1.9 billion), Waterbury-Shelton ($870.4 million), and Norwich-New London-Willimantic ($259.5 million).