North Dakota: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for North Dakota's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 3.7 percent of North Dakota's total private-sector employment. Over one-seventh (14.7 percent) of all manufacturing workers in North Dakota 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 Hundreds of North Dakota Businesses

A total of 781 companies exported goods from North Dakota locations in 2006. Of those, 654, or 84 percent, were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated almost one-fourth (24 percent) of North Dakota'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 North Dakota

In 2005, foreign-controlled companies employed 7,100 workers in North Dakota. Major sources of North Dakota's foreign investment in 2005 were the Netherlands, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Over a third (38 percent) of these jobs, or 2,700 workers, were in the manufacturing sector in 2005.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 10.3 percent of total manufacturing employment in North Dakota in 2005.

Foreign investment in North Dakota was responsible for 2.5 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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North Dakota Depends on World Markets

North Dakota's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $2.0 billion. That is a 138 percent increase over the 2003 figure of $854 million and the third fastest growth among the 50 states over that time period.

North Dakota exported to 144 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market in 2007, by far, was NAFTA member Canada, which received goods exports of $999 million (49 percent) of North Dakota's total exports that year. Canada was followed by Mexico ($123 million), Belgium ($122 million), Germany ($76 million) and Russia ($61 million).

The state's leading manufactured export category is machinery manufactures, which alone accounted for $929 million, or 46 percent of North Dakota's total export shipments in 2007. Other top manufactured exports that year were processed foods ($209 million), transportation equipment ($162 million) and chemical manufactures ($77 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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North Dakota's Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Bismarck exported $40 million of North Dakota's merchandise exports. Two major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in North Dakota. Fargo (including some parts of Minnesota) exported $336 million, while Grand Forks (including some parts of Minnesota) exported $221 million 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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