Montana

Montana Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2025, Montana exported $2.1 billion of goods to the world. In 2023, exports from Montana supported an estimated 8,000 jobs (latest data available).

Exports from Montana and Jobs

• Montana was the 46th largest state exporter of goods in 2025.
• In 2025, Montana goods exports were $2.1 billion, an increase of 51 percent ($716 million) from its export level in 2015.
• Montana goods exports in 2023 supported an estimated 8,000 jobs (latest data available). Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Montana and Jobs

• In 2025, Montana exported $1.2 billion of manufactured products.
• Montana’s exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 4,000 jobs in 2023 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category was chemicals, which accounted for $363 million of Montana's total goods exports in 2025.
• Other top manufacturing exports were machinery, except electrical ($249 million), transportation equipment ($177 million), petroleum & coal products ($158 million), and nonmetallic mineral products ($72 million).

Exports Sustain Thousands of Montana Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 1,597 companies exported from Montana locations in 2023 (latest data available). Of those, 1,397 (88 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 57.6 percent of Montana's total exports of goods in 2023.

Montana's Largest Export Markets

• The state’s largest export market was Canada. Montana exported $958 million in goods to Canada in 2025, representing 45 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Korea, South ($180 million), Japan ($148 million), Belgium ($98 million), and Mexico ($74 million).
• Montana goods exports to major world areas included:

• 64 percent of Montana goods exports ($1.4 billion) in 2025 went to current FTA partners.

Montana's Top Agricultural Exports

• Montana was the country’s 32nd largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $1.5 billion 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
wheat	$597 million	3
beef and veal	$195 million	14
other plant products	$138 million	36
vegetables, processed	$100 million	12
grain products, processed	$99 million	15

International Investment Creates Jobs in Montana

• In 2023 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 11 thousand workers in Montana. Major sources of foreign investment in Montana included Canada, Canada, and France.

Montana’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

• In 2024 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Montana recorded goods exports: Bozeman ($320.5 million), Helena ($246.3 million), Billings ($115.5 million), Missoula ($113.4 million), and Great Falls ($95 million).