Wisconsin

Wisconsin Exports & Foreign Investment

 

In 2023, Wisconsin exported a record $28.0 billion of goods to the world.  In 2021, exports from Wisconsin supported an estimated 100 thousand jobs.

 

Exports from Wisconsin and Jobs

• Wisconsin was the 20^th largest state exporter of goods in 2023.
• In 2023, Wisconsin goods exports were $28.0 billion, an increase of 21 percent ($4.9 billion) from its export level in 2013 (latest data available).
• Goods exports accounted for 6.8 percent of Wisconsin GDP in 2023 (latest data available).
• Wisconsin goods exports in 2021 (latest data available) supported an estimated 100 thousand jobs. Nationally, jobs supported by goods exports pay up to an estimated 18 percent above the national average.

Manufacturing Exports from Wisconsin and Jobs

• In 2023, Wisconsin exported $26.9 billion of manufactured products.
• Wisconsin exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 88 thousand jobs in 2021 (latest data available).
• The state's largest manufacturing export category is machinery, except electrical, which accounted for $6.1 billion of Wisconsin's total goods exports in 2023.
• Other top manufacturing exports are computer and electronic products ($3.8 billion), transportation equipment ($3.3 billion), chemicals ($2.7 billion), and food and kindred products ($2.3 billion).

 

Exports Sustain Thousands of Wisconsin Businesses many of which are SMEs

• A total of 8,734 companies exported from Wisconsin locations in 2022 (latest data available). Of those, 7,478 (86 percent) were small and medium sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
•  Small and medium-sized firms generated 27.2 percent of Wisconsin's total exports of goods in 2022

 

Wisconsin Depends on World Markets

• The state’s largest market was Canada. Wisconsin exported $8.5 billion in goods to Canada in 2023, representing 30 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
• Canada was followed by Mexico ($4.3 billion), China ($1.5 billion), Germany ($959 million), and United Kingdom ($898 million).
• Wisconsin’s exports to major world areas included:

 

• 57 percent of Wisconsin’s goods exports ($15.9 billion) in 2023 went to current FTA partners. 

Agriculture in Wisconsin depends on Exports

• Wisconsin is the country’s 13^th largest agricultural exporting state, shipping $4.7 billion in domestic agricultural exports abroad in 2022 (latest data available according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture).^[1]
• Top Agricultural exports were:

 

International Investment Creates Jobs in Wisconsin

• In 2021 (latest data available), foreign-controlled companies employed 130,200 Wisconsin workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Wisconsin included the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany.
• Foreign investment in Wisconsin was responsible for 5.2 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2021.

Wisconsin’s Major Metropolitan Areas Benefit from Exporting

In 2022 (latest data available), the following metropolitan areas in Wisconsin recorded goods exports: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin ($63.4 billion), Milwaukee-Waukesha ($8.7 billion), Racine ($3.4 billion), Madison ($2.9 billion), Oshkosh-Neenah ($1.3 billion), Appleton ($1.2 billion), Janesville-Beloit ($1.1 billion), Fond du Lac ($1 billion), Sheboygan ($889.3 million), Eau Claire ($883 million), Green Bay ($855.1 million), Wausau-Weston ($360.1 million), Casper ($94.9 million), and Cheyenne ($54.9 million).