Utah

Utah Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2024, Utah exported $18.2 billion of goods to the world. In 2022, exports from Utah supported an estimated 45 thousand jobs (latest data available).

Exports from Utah and Jobs

• Utah was the 26th largest state exporter of goods in 2024.
• In 2024, Utah goods exports were $18.2 billion, an increase of 49 percent ($6.0 billion) from its export level in 2014.
• Goods exports accounted for 6.4 percent of Utah GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
• Utah goods exports in 2022 supported an estimated 45 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 Utah and Jobs

• In 2024, Utah exported $17.4 billion of manufactured products.
• Utah exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 43 thousand jobs in 2022 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is primary metal manufacturing, which accounted for $8.1 billion of Utah's total goods exports in 2024.
• Other top manufacturing exports are computer & electronic products ($1.7 billion), chemicals ($1.5 billion), miscellaneous manufactured commodities ($1.4 billion), and transportation equipment ($1.4 billion).

Exports Sustain Thousands of Utah Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 3,746 companies exported from Utah locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 3,185 (85 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 60.7 percent of Utah's total exports of goods in 2022.

Utah Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was the United Kingdom. Utah exported $7.9 billion in goods to the United Kingdom in 2024, representing 44 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• The United Kingdom was followed by Canada ($1.5 billion), China ($1.1 billion), Mexico ($1.1 billion), and Japan ($666 million).
• Utah’s exports to major world areas included:

 

• 21 percent of Utah’s goods exports ($3.8 billion) in 2024 went to current FTA partners.  

Agriculture in Utah depends on Exports

• Utah is the country’s 38th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $600 million in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2022 (latest data available according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture).
• Top Agricultural exports were:

	2022 Value	2022 State Rank
other plant products	$135 million	33
dairy products	$92 million	22
pork	$89 million	14
beef and veal	$86 million	26
feeds and other feed grains	$56 million	32

International Investment Creates Jobs in Utah

• In 2022 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 56,600 Utah workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Utah included the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
• Foreign investment in Utah was responsible for 3.8 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2022.

Utah’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting
In 2023 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Utah recorded goods exports: Ogden ($1.6 billion), Provo-Orem-Lehi ($1.4 billion), Salt Lake City-Murray ($12.8 billion), and St. George ($90.3 million).