Delaware

Delaware Exports & Foreign Investment

 

In 2023, Delaware exported not a record $4.9 billion of goods to the world.  In 2021, exports from Delaware supported an estimated 16 thousand jobs.

 

Exports from Delaware and Jobs

• Delaware was the 42^nd largest state exporter of goods in 2023.
• In 2023, Delaware goods exports were $4.9 billion, a decrease of 8 percent ($406 million) from its export level in 2013 (latest data available).
• Goods exports accounted for 5.3 percent of Delaware GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
• Delaware goods exports in 2021 (latest data available) supported an estimated 16 thousand jobs. Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Delaware and Jobs

• In 2023, Delaware exported $4.5 billion of manufactured products.
• Delaware exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 15 thousand jobs in 2021 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is chemicals, which accounted for $1.4 billion of Delaware's total goods exports in 2023.
• Other top manufacturing exports are transportation equipment ($742 million), computer and electronic products ($612 million), machinery, except electrical ($454 million), and electrical equipment, appliances and components ($272 million).

 

Exports Sustain Thousands of Delaware Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 2,233 companies exported from Delaware locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 1,969 (88 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
•  Small and medium-sized firms generated 19.5 percent of Delaware's total exports of goods in 2022.

 

Delaware Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was Canada. Delaware exported $856 million in goods to Canada in 2023, representing 17 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by United Arab Emirates ($425 million), China ($417 million), Korea, South ($367 million), and Mexico ($333 million).
• Delaware’s exports to major world areas included:

 

• 43 percent of Delaware’s goods exports ($2.1 billion) in 2023 went to current FTA partners.

Agriculture in Delaware depends on Exports

• Delaware is the country’s 40^th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $354 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 Delaware

• In 2021 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 29,200 Delaware workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Delaware included the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.
• Foreign investment in Delaware was responsible for 7.6 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2021.

Delaware’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

In 2022 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Delaware recorded goods exports: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington ($29.4 billion), and Dover ($186.8 million).