Indiana: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Indiana's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for 7.3 percent of Indiana's total private-sector employment. Nearly one-fifth (19.7 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Indiana depend on exports for their jobs. (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 Indiana Businesses

A total of 5,490 companies exported goods from Indiana locations in 2006. Of those, 4,616 (84 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises, with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated 16 percent of Indiana'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 Indiana

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 148,000 workers in Indiana. Major sources of Indiana's foreign investment in 2006 were Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

Nearly three-fifths of these jobs (59 percent, or 86,700 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 15.3 percent - over one-seventh - of total manufacturing employment in Indiana in 2006.

Foreign investment in Indiana was responsible for 5.7 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2006.

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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Indiana Depends on World Markets

Indiana's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $26.0 billion, the twelfth largest figure among the states.

Indiana increased its merchandise exports $9.5 billion from 2003 to 2007. This was the twelfth biggest dollar increase over the five-year period among the states.

Indiana exported to 196 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest export market, by far, is our NAFTA trading partner Canada. Indiana exported $10.8 billion (42 percent) worth of merchandise to Canada in 2007. Canada was followed by fellow NAFTA nation Mexico (2007 exports of $2.6 billion), the United Kingdom ($1.9 billion), France ($1.5 billion), and Germany ($1.1 billion).

The state's leading export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for $7.8 billion, nearly one-third (30 percent) of Indiana's total merchandise exports in 2007. Other top manufactured exports are chemical manufactures ($4.9 billion), machinery manufactures ($3.9 billion), and computers and electronic products ($1.9 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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Indiana's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Indianapolis-Carmel exported $3.9 billion in merchandise, 35 percent of Indiana's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Indiana that exported in the first half of 2007 were Elkhart-Goshen ($854 million), and Kokomo ($677 million). Several major metropolitan area exporters in Indiana included some counties from neighboring states. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet (including some parts of Illinois and Wisconsin) exported $14.8 billion, while Cincinnati-Middletown (including some parts of Ohio and Kentucky) exported $7.3 billion, Louisville-Jefferson County (including some parts of Kentucky) exported $2.7 billion, Evansville (including some parts of Kentucky) exported $682 million, and South Bend-Mishawaka (including some parts of Michigan) exported $497 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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