Oklahoma

Oklahoma Exports & Foreign Investment

 

In 2023, Oklahoma exported not a record $6.5 billion of goods to the world.  In 2021, exports from Oklahoma supported an estimated 25 thousand jobs.

 

Exports from Oklahoma and Jobs

• Oklahoma was the 37^th largest state exporter of goods in 2023.
• In 2023, Oklahoma goods exports were $6.5 billion, a decrease of 6 percent ($409 million) from its export level in 2013 (latest data available).
• Goods exports accounted for 2.6 percent of Oklahoma GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
• Oklahoma goods exports in 2021 (latest data available) supported an estimated 25 thousand jobs. Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Oklahoma and Jobs

• In 2023, Oklahoma exported $6.0 billion of manufactured products.
• Oklahoma exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 20 thousand jobs in 2021 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for $1.4 billion of Oklahoma's total goods exports in 2023.
• Other top manufacturing exports are machinery, except electrical ($1.1 billion), chemicals ($779 million), computer and electronic products ($770 million), and fabricated metal products, not elsewhere specified ($527 million).

 

Exports Sustain Thousands of Oklahoma Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 3,017 companies exported from Oklahoma locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 2,532 (84 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
•  Small and medium-sized firms generated 26.8 percent of Oklahoma's total exports of goods in 2022.

 

Oklahoma Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was Canada. Oklahoma exported $1.9 billion in goods to Canada in 2023, representing 29 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Mexico ($630 million), Germany ($595 million), Netherlands ($321 million), and Japan ($262 million).
• Oklahoma’s exports to major world areas included:

 

 

• 51 percent of Oklahoma’s goods exports ($3.3 billion) in 2023 went to current FTA partners. 

Agriculture in Oklahoma depends on Exports

• Oklahoma is the country’s 25^th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $2.4 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 Oklahoma

• In 2021 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 64,200 Oklahoma workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Oklahoma included the United Kingdom, France and Canada.
• Foreign investment in Oklahoma was responsible for 4.9 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2021.

Oklahoma’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

In 2022 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Oklahoma recorded goods exports: Tulsa ($3.4 billion), Oklahoma City ($2 billion), Enid ($67 million), and Lawton ($27.3 million).