Tennessee

Tennessee Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2025, Tennessee exported $37.7 billion of goods to the world. In 2023, exports from Tennessee supported an estimated 122 thousand jobs (latest data available).

Exports from Tennessee and Jobs

• Tennessee was the 19th largest state exporter of goods in 2025.
• In 2025, Tennessee goods exports were $37.7 billion, an increase of 16 percent ($5.1 billion) from its export level in 2015.
• Tennessee goods exports in 2023 supported an estimated 122 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 Tennessee and Jobs

• In 2025, Tennessee exported $34.8 billion of manufactured products.
• Tennessee exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 114 thousand jobs in 2023 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category was computer & electronic products, which accounted for $9.3 billion of Tennessee total goods exports in 2025.
• Other top manufacturing exports were transportation equipment ($5.0 billion), miscellaneous manufactured commodities ($4.9 billion), chemicals ($4.9 billion), and machinery, except electrical ($2.6 billion).

Exports Sustain Thousands of Tennessee Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 7,081 companies exported from Tennessee locations in 2023 (latest data available). Of those, 5,852 (83 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 15.8 percent of Tennessee's total exports of goods in 2023.

Tennessee's Largest Export Markets

• The state’s largest export market was Canada. Tennessee exported $6.4 billion in goods to Canada in 2025, representing 17 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Mexico ($6.1 billion), the Netherlands ($3.0 billion), China ($2.6 billion), and Japan ($1.8 billion).
• Tennessee goods exports to major world areas included:

• 46 percent of Tennessee goods exports ($17.2 billion) in 2025 went to current FTA partners.

Tennessee's Top Agricultural Exports

• Tennessee was the country’s 29th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $1.8 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	$421 million	16
other plant products	$323 million	20
cotton	$201 million	9
broiler meat	$120 million	12
soybean meal	$110 million	16

International Investment Creates Jobs in Tennessee

• In 2023 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed an estimated 217 thousand Tennessee workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Tennessee included Japan, the United Kingdom, and France.

Tennessee’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

• In 2024 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Tennessee recorded goods exports: Memphis ($17.4 billion), Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin ($10.5 billion), Kingsport-Bristol ($3.7 billion), Knoxville ($2.4 billion), Chattanooga ($1.8 billion), Clarksville ($561.8 million), Jackson ($491.7 million), Morristown ($481.9 million), Johnson City ($392.6 million), and Cleveland ($390.2 million).