Oregon Exports & Foreign Investment
In 2023, Oregon exported not a record $27.7 billion of goods to the world. In 2021, exports from Oregon supported an estimated 86 thousand jobs.
Exports from Oregon and Jobs
- Oregon was the 21st largest state exporter of goods in 2023
- In 2023, Oregon goods exports were $27.7 billion, an increase of 49 percent ($9.1 billion) from its export level in 2013 (latest data available).
- Goods exports accounted for 8.8 percent of Oregon GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
- Oregon goods exports in 2021 (latest data available) supported an estimated 86 thousand jobs. Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.
Manufacturing Exports from Oregon and Jobs
- In 2023, Oregon exported $25.7 billion of manufactured products.
- Oregon exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 81 thousand jobs in 2021 (latest data available).
- The state's largest manufacturing export category is computer and electronic products, which accounted for $8.7 billion of Oregon's total goods exports in 2023.
- Other top manufacturing exports are transportation equipment ($7.0 billion), machinery, except electrical ($3.7 billion), chemicals ($1.5 billion), and plastics and rubber products ($667 million).
Exports Sustain Thousands of Oregon Businesses many of which are SMEs
- A total of 5,530 companies exported from Oregon locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 4,836 (88 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
- Small and medium-sized firms generated 20.4 percent of Oregon's total exports of goods in 2022.
Oregon Depends on World Markets
- The state’s largest market was Mexico. Oregon exported $6.6 billion in goods to Mexico in 2023, representing 24 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
- Mexico was followed by China ($4.0 billion), Canada ($3.5 billion), Malaysia ($2.6 billion), and Ireland ($1.3 billion).
- Oregon’s exports to major world areas included:
|
|
2023 Value |
|
APEC |
$21.9 billion |
|
Asia |
$12.9 billion |
|
European Union |
$3.2 billion |
|
South/Central America and Caribbean |
$641 million |
|
Sub-Saharan Africa |
$53 million |
- 47 percent of Oregon’s goods exports ($13.1 billion) in 2023 went to current FTA partners.
Agriculture in Oregon depends on Exports
- Oregon is the country’s 24th 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:
|
|
2022 Value |
2022 State Rank |
|
other plant products |
$1.2 billion |
3 |
|
wheat |
$248 million |
9 |
|
tree nuts |
$140 million |
4 |
|
beef and veal |
$138 million |
19 |
|
vegetables, processed |
$127 million |
9 |
International Investment Creates Jobs in Oregon
- In 2021 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 70,300 Oregon workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Oregon included the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.
- Foreign investment in Oregon was responsible for 4.4 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2021.
Oregon’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting
In 2022 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Oregon recorded goods exports: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro ($34.4 billion), Albany-Lebanon ($714.8 million), Eugene-Springfield ($434.9 million), Salem ($422.3 million), Corvallis ($269.8 million), Medford ($224 million), Bend ($155.8 million), and Grants Pass ($50.9 million).
[1] Estimates of state exports of agricultural products by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and goods exports by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce are based on different methodologies and are not directly comparable.
