Maryland: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Maryland's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 2.0 percent of Maryland's total private-sector employment. Over one-ninth (11.7 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Maryland 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 Maryland Businesses

A total of 3,688 companies exported goods from Maryland locations in 2006. Of those, 3,172 (86 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated nearly one-third (31 percent) of Maryland'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 Maryland

In 2005, foreign-controlled companies employed 102,700 workers in Maryland. Major sources of Maryland's foreign investment in 2005 included the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Switzerland.

Over one-sixth of these jobs (17 percent, or 17,900 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2005.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 12.6 percent, over one-eighth, of total manufacturing employment in Maryland in 2005.

Foreign investment in Maryland was responsible for 4.8 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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Maryland Depends on World Markets

Maryland's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $8.9 billion, up 81 percent from the 2003 total of $4.9 billion. This was the sixteenth largest percentage increase among the 50 states over that period.

Maryland exported globally to 205 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market in 2007 was NAFTA member Canada, which received exports of $1.4 billion, or 16 percent of the state's 2007 total. Canada was followed by Egypt ($713 million), the United Kingdom ($470 million), Mexico ($466 million), and China ($446 million).

The state's leading export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for 22 percent, or $2.0 billion, of the state's exports in 2007. Other top export categories were chemical manufactures ($1.5 billion), computers and electronic products ($1.4 billion), and machinery manufactures ($827 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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Maryland's Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Baltimore-Towson exported $4.8 billion in merchandise, 65 percent of Maryland's total merchandise exports. Another major metropolitan area in Maryland that exported in 2006 included Salisbury ($229 million). Two major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in Maryland. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (including some parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) exported $16.1 billion, while Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (including some parts of the District of Columbia, Virginia, and West Virginia) exported $7.5 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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