New Mexico: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for New Mexico Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 7.4 percent of New Mexico's total private-sector employment. Over one-fifth (22.0 percent) of all manufacturing workers in New Mexico 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 New Mexico Businesses

A total of 902 companies exported from New Mexico locations in 2006. Of these, 742 (82 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated 11 percent of New Mexico'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 New Mexico

In 2005, foreign-controlled companies employed 13,600 workers in New Mexico. Major sources of New Mexico's jobs in 2005 were the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, and France.

Over one-seventh of these jobs (15 percent, or 2,000 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2005.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 5.6 percent of total manufacturing employment in New Mexico in 2005.

Foreign investment in New Mexico was responsible for 2.2 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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New Mexico Depends on World Markets

New Mexico's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $2.6 billion, up 11 percent from the 2003 level of $2.3 billion.

New Mexico exported to 146 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market that year was China, which received exports of $686 million. China was followed by Malaysia ($477 million), Mexico ($375 million), Canada ($236 million), and the Philippines ($82 million).

The computers and electronic products sector dominates the state's export profile, accounting for 64 percent ($1.7 billion) of New Mexico's total merchandise exports in 2007. Other top manufactured exports that year were transportation equipment ($193 million), machinery manufactures ($132 million), and fabricated metal products ($99 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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New Mexico's Metropolitan Exports

In 2006, the metropolitan area of Albuquerque exported $2.2 billion in merchandise, 76 percent of New Mexico's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in New Mexico that exported in 2006 included Las Cruces ($427 million), Santa Fe ($20 million), and Farmington ($7.1 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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