Arizona: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Arizona's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 3.8 percent of Arizona's total private-sector employment. Almost one-quarter (22.4 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Arizona depend on exports for their jobs. (2005 data are the 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.

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

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Exports Sustain Thousands of Arizona Businesses

A total of 4,732 companies exported from Arizona locations in 2006. Of those, 4,147 (88 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated one-fifth (20 percent) of Arizona'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 Arizona

In 2005, foreign-controlled companies employed 64,400 workers in Arizona. Major sources of foreign investment in Arizona in 2005 included the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

About one-fifth of these jobs (20 percent, or 13,100 workers) were in the manufacturing sector.

Approximately one of every fourteen manufacturing workers (7.1 percent) in Arizona were employed by foreign-controlled companies in 2005.

Foreign investment in Arizona was responsible for 3.0 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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Arizona Depends on World Markets

Arizona's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $19.2 billion. Arizona ranked 19th among the 50 states in terms of total exports in 2007.

Arizona exported globally to 202 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market was NAFTA member Mexico. Arizona posted exports of $5.2 billion to Mexico, over one-quarter (27 percent) of the state's total export shipments in 2007. Mexico was followed by NAFTA member Canada ($2.1 billion), China ($1.3 billion), Singapore ($1.1 billion) and Germany ($1.0 billion).

The state's leading export category is computers and electronic products, which alone accounted for 40 percent, or $7.6 billion, of Arizona's total merchandise exports in 2007. Other top manufactured exports that year were transportation equipment ($3.1 billion); electrical equipment, appliances, and parts ($1.7 billion); and machinery manufactures ($1.3 billion).

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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Arizona's Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale exported $11.0 billion in merchandise, 69 percent of Arizona's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Arizona that exported in 2006 included Tucson ($3.3 billion), Yuma ($302 million), and Flagstaff ($71 million).

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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