Kentucky: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Kentucky's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 5.9 percent of Kentucky's total private-sector employment. Over one-sixth (17.9 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Kentucky 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.

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Exports Sustain Thousands of Kentucky Businesses

A total of 2,858 companies exported goods from Kentucky locations in 2006. Of those, 2,192 (77 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated one-sixth (16 percent) of Kentucky'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 Kentucky

In 2005, foreign-controlled companies employed 86,000 workers in Kentucky. Major sources of Kentucky's foreign investment in 2005 were Japan, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France.

More than half of these jobs (52 percent, or 44,800 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2005.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 17.0 percent of total manufacturing employment in Kentucky in 2005.

Foreign investment in Kentucky was responsible for 5.6 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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Kentucky Depends on World Markets

Kentucky's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $19.6 billion, up $8.9 billion (83 percent) from the 2003 level of $10.7 billion. Kentucky ranked fourteenth among the states in terms of both dollar and percentage increase in exports from 2003 to 2007.

Kentucky exported to 194 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market, by far, was NAFTA member Canada. Kentucky posted exports of $6.6 billion to Canada, or 33 percent of the state's 2007 total. Canada was followed by France ($1.9 billion), Mexico ($1.4 billion), Japan ($1.2 billion), and the United Kingdom ($977 million).

The state's leading export category in 2007 was transportation equipment, which alone accounted for 39 percent, or $7.7 billion, of Kentucky's total merchandise exports. Other top exports were chemical manufactures ($3.5 billion), machinery manufactures ($1.7 billion), and computers and electronic products ($1.6 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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Kentucky's Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Lexington-Fayette exported $2.5 billion in merchandise, 15 percent of Kentucky's total merchandise exports. Three major metropolitan area exporters in Kentucky included some counties from neighboring states. Cincinnati-Middletown (including some parts of Ohio and Indiana) exported $12.7 billion, while Louisville-Jefferson County (including some parts of Indiana) exported $4.7 billion, and Evansville (including some parts of Indiana) exported $1.2 billion in merchandise in 2006.

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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