Louisiana

Louisiana Exports & Foreign Investment

 

In 2023, Louisiana exported not a record $100.2 billion of goods to the world.  In 2021, exports from Louisiana supported an estimated 159 thousand jobs.

 

Exports from Louisiana and Jobs

• Louisiana was the 3^rd largest state exporter of goods in 2023.
• In 2023, Louisiana goods exports were $100.2 billion, an increase of 58 percent ($37 billion) from its export level in 2013 (latest data available).
• Goods exports accounted for 32.4 percent of Louisiana GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
• Louisiana goods exports in 2021 (latest data available) supported an estimated 159 thousand jobs. Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Louisiana and Jobs

• In 2023, Louisiana exported $42.9 billion of manufactured products.
• Louisiana exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 118 thousand jobs in 2021 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is petroleum and coal products, which accounted for $22.9 billion of Louisiana's total goods exports in 2023.
• Other top manufacturing exports are chemicals ($10.8 billion), food and kindred products ($5.1 billion), machinery, except electrical ($769 million), and primary metal manufacturing ($590 million).

 

Exports Sustain Thousands of Louisiana Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 3,609 companies exported from Louisiana locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 3,032 (84 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
•  Small and medium-sized firms generated 39.4 percent of Louisiana's total exports of goods in 2022.

 

Louisiana Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was China. Louisiana exported $14.0 billion in goods to China in 2023, representing 14 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• China was followed by Mexico ($6.9 billion), Netherlands ($6.9 billion), United Kingdom ($5.3 billion), and Germany ($5.0 billion).
• Louisiana’s exports to major world areas included:

 

• 32 percent of Louisiana’s goods exports ($32.0 billion) in 2023 went to current FTA partners. 

Agriculture in Louisiana depends on Exports

• Louisiana is the country’s 29^th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $1.9 billion 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 Louisiana

• In 2021 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 78,400 Louisiana workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Louisiana included the United Kingdom, Canada and France.
• Foreign investment in Louisiana was responsible for 4.9 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2021.

Louisiana’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

In 2022 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Louisiana recorded goods exports: New Orleans-Metairie ($52.9 billion), Lake Charles ($41.1 billion), Baton Rouge ($12.3 billion), Lafayette ($911.8 million), Monroe ($789.9 million), Houma-Thibodaux ($763.7 million), Monroe ($568.2 million), Shreveport-Bossier City ($550.1 million), and Hammond ($138.9 million).