South Carolina: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for South Carolina's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 9.3 percent (the second highest share among the 50 states) of South Carolina's total private-sector employment. Well over one-fourth (29.1 percent) of all manufacturing workers in South Carolina depend on exports for their jobs, the third highest figure among the 50 states. (2006 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 2006 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: 2006.

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

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Exports Sustain Thousands of South Carolina Businesses

A total of 3,269 companies exported goods from South Carolina locations in 2006. Of those, 2,653, or 81 percent, were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

SMEs generated 14 percent of South Carolina'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 South Carolina

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 114,300 workers in South Carolina. Major sources of South Carolina's jobs in 2006 included Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Switzerland.

Nearly half (49 percent), or 55,800 workers were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 21.8 percent, over one-fifth, of total manufacturing employment in South Carolina in 2006. This was the highest share in the nation.

Foreign investment in South Carolina was responsible for 7.1 percent of the state’s total private-industry employment in 2006, tied for the highest figure among the 50 states.

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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South Carolina Depends on World Markets

South Carolina's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $16.6 billion. The state's exports to the world increased $4.8 billion, or 41 percent, from 2003 to 2007.

South Carolina exported to 197 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market that year was Germany, which received goods exports of $3.8 billion (23 percent) of South Carolina's total 2007 exports. Germany was followed by NAFTA partners Canada ($3.3 billion) and Mexico ($982 million), the United Kingdom ($944 million), and China ($624 million).

South Carolina's leading manufactured export category is transportation equipment, which alone accounted for $5.6 billion, or 34 percent, of South Carolina's total export shipments in 2007. Other top manufactured exports that year were chemical manufactures ($2.3 billion), machinery manufactures ($1.9 billion), and plastics and rubber products ($1.4 billion).

Source: Revised 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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South Carolina's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Greenville exported $3.5 billion in merchandise, 46 percent of South Carolina's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in South Carolina that exported in the first half of 2007 included Charleston-North Charleston ($864 million), Spartanburg ($636 million), Columbia ($488 million), Florence ($401 million), and Anderson ($271 million). Two major metropolitan area exporters included some counties in South Carolina. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord (including some parts of North Carolina) exported $2.0 billion, while Augusta-Richmond County (including some parts of Georgia) exported $745 million in merchandise in the first half of 2007.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Metropolitan Export Series.

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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