Virginia

Virginia Exports and Foreign Investment

In 2024, Virginia exported $21.8 billion of goods to the world. In 2022, exports from Virginia supported an estimated 87 thousand jobs (latest data available).

Exports from Virginia and Jobs

• Virginia was the 24th largest state exporter of goods in 2024.
• In 2024, Virginia goods exports were $21.8 billion, an increase of 12 percent ($2.4 billion) from its export level in 2014.
• Goods exports accounted for 3.0 percent of Virginia GDP in 2024.
• Virginia goods exports in 2022 supported an estimated 87 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 Virginia and Jobs

• In 2024, Virginia exported $15.4 billion of manufactured products.
• Virginia exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 60 thousand jobs in 2022 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is chemicals, which accounted for $2.8 billion of Virginia's total goods exports in 2024.
• Other top manufacturing exports are computer & electronic products ($2.3 billion), transportation equipment ($2.0 billion), machinery, except electrical ($1.5 billion), and food & kindred products ($1.2 billion).

Exports Sustain Thousands of Virginia Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 7,413 companies exported from Virginia locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 6,258 (84 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
• Small and medium-sized firms generated 39.6 percent of Virginia's total exports of goods in 2022.

Virginia Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was Canada. Virginia exported $3.4 billion in goods to Canada in 2024, representing 15 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by China ($1.5 billion), India ($1.4 billion), Mexico ($1.3 billion), and Germany ($1.1 billion).
• Virginia’s exports to major world areas included:

• 33 percent of Virginia’s goods exports ($7.2 billion) in 2024 went to current FTA partners.  

Agriculture in Virginia depends on Exports

• Virginia is the country’s 33rd largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $1.3 billion in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2023 (latest data available according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture).
• Top Agricultural exports were:

	2023 Value	2023 State Rank
other plant products	$288 million	19
soybeans	$143 million	20
other livestock products	$126 million	12
broiler meat	$125 million	8
cotton	$94 million	14

International Investment Creates Jobs in Virginia

• In 2022 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 209,600 Virginia workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Virginia included the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany.
• Foreign investment in Virginia was responsible for 6.3 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2022.

Virginia’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

In 2023 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Virginia recorded goods exports: Kingsport-Bristol ($3.8 billion), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria ($14.8 billion), Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford ($1.2 billion), Charlottesville ($156.4 million), Harrisonburg ($529.8 million), Lynchburg ($468.6 million), Richmond ($2.6 billion), Roanoke ($855.3 million), Staunton-Stuarts Draft ($227.8 million), Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk ($6.3 billion), and Winchester ($329.5 million).