South Carolina

South Carolina Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2025, South Carolina exported $38.5 billion of goods to the world. In 2023, exports from South Carolina supported an estimated 128 thousand jobs (latest data available).

Exports from South Carolina and Jobs

• South Carolina was the 18th largest state exporter of goods in 2025.
• In 2025, South Carolina goods exports were $38.5 billion, an increase of 24 percent ($7.5 billion) from its export level in 2015.
• South Carolina goods exports in 2023 supported an estimated 128 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 South Carolina and Jobs

• In 2025, South Carolina exported $37.7 billion of manufactured products.
• South Carolina exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 125 thousand jobs in 2023 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category was transportation equipment, which accounted for $20.2 billion of South Carolina total goods exports in 2025.
• Other top manufacturing exports were chemicals ($4.2 billion), plastics & rubber products ($3.2 billion), machinery, except electrical ($2.9 billion), and other fabricated metal products ($1.5 billion).

Exports Sustain Thousands of South Carolina Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 6,261 companies exported from South Carolina locations in 2023 (latest data available). Of those, 5,246 (84 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 11.2 percent of South Carolina total exports of goods in 2023.

South Carolina's Largest Export Markets

• The state’s largest export market was Germany. South Carolina exported $5.2 billion in goods to Germany in 2025, representing 13 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Germany was followed by Mexico ($4.2 billion), Canada ($4.0 billion), South Korea ($2.7 billion), and China ($1.9 billion).
• South Carolina goods exports to major world areas included:

• 38 percent of South Carolina goods exports ($14.6 billion) in 2025 went to current FTA partners.

South Carolina's Top Agricultural Exports

• South Carolina was the country’s 34th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $1.1 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
other plant products	$308 million	23
cotton	$150 million	10
broiler meat	$122 million	11
soybeans	$89 million	23
other oilseeds and products	$56 million	9

International Investment Creates Jobs in South Carolina

• In 2023 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed an estimated 194 thousand South Carolina workers. Major sources of foreign investment in South Carolina included Germany, France, and Canada.

South Carolina’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

• In 2024 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in South Carolina recorded goods exports: Greenville-Anderson-Greer ($15 billion), Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia ($10.2 billion), Charleston-North Charleston ($9.5 billion), Spartanburg ($2.6 billion), Columbia ($2.1 billion), Florence ($1.2 billion), Augusta-Richmond County ($998.4 million), Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal ($167.8 million), Sumter ($153.1 million), and Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach ($139.8 million).