Hawaii

Hawaii Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2024, Hawaii exported $461 million of goods to the world.  In 2022, exports from Hawaii supported an estimated 1,000 jobs (latest data available).

Exports from Hawaii and Jobs

• Hawaii was the 50th largest state exporter of goods in 2024.
• In 2024, Hawaii goods exports were $461 million, a decrease of 68 percent ($987 million) from its export level in 2014.
• Goods exports accounted for 0.5 percent of Hawaii GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
• Hawaii goods exports in 2022 supported an estimated 1,000 jobs (latest data available). Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Hawaii and Jobs

• In 2024, Hawaii exported $305 million of manufactured products.
• Hawaii exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 900 jobs in 2022 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for $130 million of Hawaii's total goods exports in 2024.
• Other top manufacturing exports are petroleum & coal products ($73 million), food & kindred products ($18 million), computer and electronic products ($16 million), and electrical equipment, appliances & components ($16 million).

Exports Sustain Hawaii Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 677 companies exported from Hawaii locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 586 (87 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 56.9 percent of Hawaii's total exports of goods in 2022.

Hawaii Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was Japan. Hawaii exported $84 million in goods to Japan in 2024, representing 18 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Japan was followed by New Zealand ($58 million), South Korea ($53 million), India ($46 million), and the United Kingdom ($23 million).
• Hawaii’s exports to major world areas included:

 

• 21 percent of Hawaii’s goods exports ($99 million) in 2024 went to current FTA partners.  

Agriculture in Hawaii depends on Exports

Hawaii is the country’s 41st largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $350 million in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2022 (latest data available according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture). 

Top Agricultural exports were:

	2022 Value	2022 State Rank
other plant products	$229 million	26
other livestock products	$61 million	27
tree nuts	$46 million	7
beef and veal	$7 million	42
other poultry products	$3 million	46

International Investment Creates Jobs in Hawaii

• In 2022 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 38,100 Hawaii workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Hawaii included Japan, France and the United Kingdom.
• Foreign investment in Hawaii was responsible for 7.5 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2022.

Hawaii’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting
In 2023 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Hawaii recorded goods exports: Kahului-Wailuku ($5.2 million) and Urban Honolulu ($450.6 million).