Alabama: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Alabama's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 5.7 percent of Alabama's total private-sector employment. One-seventh (14.2 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Alabama depend on exports for their jobs (2005 data latest available).

Note: Export-related employment data shown do not include manufacturing and non-manufacturing jobs involved in the export of non-manufactured goods, such as farm products, minerals, and services sold to foreign buyers. Indirect exports exclude imported items. The complete 2005 export-related employment series is available on our Export Related Jobs pages. Additional information on methodology used in the export-related employment series can be found in the U.S. Census Bureau's publication Exports from Manufacturing Establishments: 2003.

Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.

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Exports Sustain Thousands of Alabama Businesses

A total of 2,371 companies exported from Alabama locations in 2006. Of those, 1,896 (80 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated nearly one-sixth (15 percent) of Alabama's total exports of merchandise in 2006.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Alabama

In 2005, foreign-controlled companies employed 63,200 Alabama workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Alabama in 2005 included Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

More than half of these jobs (54 percent, or 33,900 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2005.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 11.3 percent of total manufacturing employment in Alabama in 2005.

Foreign investment in Alabama was responsible for 3.9 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2005.

Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Alabama Depends on World Markets

Alabama's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $14.4 billion, up 73 percent ($6.1 billion) from 2003. By comparison, total U.S. merchandise exports rose 61 percent over the 2003-2007 period.

Alabama exported globally to 187 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market was Germany, where Alabama posted exports of $3.3 billion. Germany was followed by Canada ($2.9 billion), China ($808 million), Mexico ($800 million), and the United Kingdom ($733 million).

The state's leading export category is transportation equipment, which alone accounted for 41 percent, or $5.9 billion, of Alabama's total merchandise exports in 2007. Other top exports are chemical manufactures (2007 exports of $2.0 billion), machinery manufactures ($936 million), and paper products ($900 million).

Source: Origin of Movement State Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.

Caution: The Origin of Movement series allocates exports to states based on transportation origin, i.e., the state from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a state should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement state export figures.

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Alabama's Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Mobile exported $1.4 billion in merchandise, 11 percent of Alabama's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Alabama that exported in 2006 included Huntsville ($1.3 billion), Montgomery ($834 million), Birmingham-Hoover ($754 million), and Decatur ($703 million). The metropolitan area of Tuscaloosa likely also ranked among the top exporters in 2006 however an export value total is not available due to federal disclosure regulations.

Source: Metropolitan Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.

Caution: The Origin of Movement zip-based series allocates exports to metropolitan areas based on transportation origin, i.e., the metropolitan area from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a metropolitan area should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement zip-based export figures.

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