North Dakota

North Dakota Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2025, North Dakota exported $8.6 billion of goods to the world. In 2023, exports from North Dakota supported an estimated 35 thousand jobs (latest data available).

Exports from North Dakota and Jobs

• North Dakota was the 35th largest state exporter of goods in 2025.
• In 2025, North Dakota goods exports were $8.6 billion, an increase of 115 percent ($4.6 billion) from its export level in 2015.
• North Dakota goods exports in 2023 supported an estimated 35 thousand jobs (latest data available). Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from North Dakota and Jobs

• In 2025, North Dakota exported $6.1 billion of manufactured products.
• North Dakota’s exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 20 thousand jobs in 2023 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category was petroleum & coal products, which accounted for $3.9 billion of North Dakota's total goods exports in 2025.
• Other top manufacturing exports were machinery, except electrical ($1.0 billion), chemicals ($454 million), food & kindred products ($279 million), and transportation equipment ($172 million).

Exports Sustain Thousands of North Dakota Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 1,745 companies exported from North Dakota locations in 2023 (latest data available). Of those, 1,456 (83 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 23.6 percent of North Dakota's total exports of goods in 2023.

North Dakota's Largest Export Markets

• The state’s largest export market was Canada. North Dakota exported $7.0 billion in goods to Canada in 2025, representing 80 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Mexico ($818 million), Australia ($164 million), Czech Republic ($70 million), and Taiwan ($51 million).
• North Dakota’s goods exports to major world areas included:

• 93 percent of North Dakota goods exports ($8.0 billion) in 2025 went to current FTA partners.

North Dakota's Top Agricultural Exports

• North Dakota is the country’s 9th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $5.4 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
soybeans	$1.2 billion	9
wheat	$1.0 billion	1
other oilseeds and products	$634 million	1
corn	$457 million	10
feeds and other feed grains	$367 million	11

International Investment Creates Jobs in North Dakota

• In 2023 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 16 thousand workers in North Dakota. Major sources of foreign investment in North Dakota included Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

North Dakota’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

• In 2024 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in North Dakota recorded goods exports: Fargo ($819.2 million), Grand Forks ($377.6 million), Minot ($302.5 million), and Bismarck ($123 million).