South Dakota

South Dakota Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2025, South Dakota exported $1.9 billion of goods to the world. In 2023, exports from South Dakota supported an estimated 21 thousand jobs (latest data available).

Exports from South Dakota and Jobs

• South Dakota was the 49th largest state exporter of goods in 2025.
• In 2025, South Dakota goods exports were $1.9 billion, an increase of 30 percent ($430 million) from its export level in 2015.
• South Dakota goods exports in 2023 supported an estimated 21 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 Dakota and Jobs

• In 2025, South Dakota exported $1.6 billion of manufactured products.
• South Dakota exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 9,000 jobs in 2023 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category was food & kindred products, which accounted for $558 million of South Dakota's total goods exports in 2025.
• Other top manufacturing exports were chemicals ($394 million), machinery, except electrical ($215 million), transportation equipment ($129 million), and beverages & tobacco products ($103 million).

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

• A total of 940 companies exported from South Dakota locations in 2023 (latest data available). Of those, 752 (80 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 37.3 percent of South Dakota total exports of goods in 2023.

South Dakota's Largest Export Markets

• The state’s largest export market was Canada. South Dakota exported $846 million in goods to Canada in 2025, representing 46 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Mexico ($366 million), China ($111 million), Japan ($67 million), and Norway ($40 million).
• South Dakota goods exports to major world areas included:

• 72 percent of South Dakota goods exports ($1.3 billion) in 2025 went to current FTA partners. 

South Dakota's Top Agricultural Exports

• South Dakota was the country’s 12th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $4.6 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	8
corn	$722 million	6
feeds and other feed grains	$546 million	7
beef and veal	$362 million	8
soybean meal	$326 million	8

International Investment Creates Jobs in South Dakota

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

South Dakota’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

• In 2024 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in South Dakota recorded goods exports: Sioux City ($1.5 billion), Sioux Falls ($531.1 million), and Rapid City ($37.7 million).

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