Montana

Montana Exports & Foreign Investment

 

In 2023, Montana exported a record $2.2 billion of goods to the world.  In 2021, exports from Montana supported an estimated 10 thousand jobs.

 

Exports from Montana and Jobs

• Montana was the 47^th largest state exporter of goods in 2023.
• In 2023, Montana goods exports were $2.2 billion, an increase of 48 percent ($725 million) from its export level in 2013 (latest data available).
• Goods exports accounted for 3.2 percent of Montana GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
• Montana goods exports in 2021 (latest data available) supported an estimated 10 thousand jobs. Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Montana and Jobs

• In 2023, Montana exported $1.3 billion of manufactured products.
• Montana exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 4 thousand jobs in 2021 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is chemicals, which accounted for $520 million of Montana's total goods exports in 2023.
• Other top manufacturing exports are machinery, except electrical ($232 million), transportation equipment ($176 million), nonmetallic mineral products ($60 million), and primary metal manufacturing ($60 million).

 

Exports Sustain Thousands of Montana Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 1,432 companies exported from Montana locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 1,228 (86 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
•  Small and medium-sized firms generated 64.1 percent of Montana's total exports of goods in 2022.

 

Montana Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was Canada. Montana exported $1.0 billion in goods to Canada in 2023, representing 45 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Korea, South ($189 million), Japan ($130 million), China ($112 million), and Belgium ($71 million).
• Montana’s exports to major world areas included:

 

 

• 64 percent of Montana’s goods exports ($1.4 billion) in 2023 went to current FTA partners. 

Agriculture in Montana depends on Exports

• Montana is the country’s 32^nd largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $1.5 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 Montana

• In 2021 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 9,800 Montana workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Montana included the United Kingdom, Canada and France.
• Foreign investment in Montana was responsible for 2.4 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2021.

Montana’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

In 2022 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Montana recorded goods exports: Billings ($156 million), Missoula ($141.9 million), and Great Falls ($63 million).