Missouri: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Missouri's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 4.7 percent of Missouri's total private-sector employment. Over one-sixth (17.2 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Missouri 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 Missouri Businesses

A total of 4,059 companies exported goods from Missouri locations in 2006. Of those, 3,395 (84 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated over one-quarter (28 percent) of Missouri'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 Missouri

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 85,700 workers in Missouri. Major sources of Missouri's foreign investment in 2006 were the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France and Japan.

Over two-fifths of these jobs (42 percent, or 35,800 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 11.6 percent, nearly one-eighth, of total manufacturing employment in Missouri in 2006.

Foreign investment in Missouri was responsible for 3.6 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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Missouri Depends on World Markets

Missouri's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $13.5 billion, up 86 percent from the 2003 total of $7.2 billion, which is far larger than the 60 percent growth in total U.S. merchandise exports over the 2003-2007 period. Missouri ranks 11th among the states in terms of percentage growth in exports from 2003 to 2007.

Missouri exported to 193 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest market in 2007, by far, was NAFTA member Canada, which received exports of $5.0 billion, or 37 percent of the 2007 total. Canada was followed by Mexico ($1.4 billion), South Korea ($1.3 billion), China ($1.0 billion), and Japan ($659 million).

The state's leading export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for 35 percent, or $4.7 billion, of Missouri's exports in 2007. Other top export categories are chemical manufactures ($2.2 billion of exports in 2007), machinery manufactures ($1.2 billion), and processed foods ($733 million).

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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Missouri's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Springfield exported $158 million of Missouri's merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Missouri that exported in the first half of 2007 were Columbia ($100 million), Joplin ($91 million), and Jefferson City ($85 million). Several major metropolitan area exporters include some counties in Missouri. St. Louis (including some parts of Illinois) exported $4.9 billion, while Kansas City (including some parts of Kansas) exported $3.2 billion, Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers (including some parts of Arkansas) exported $467 million, and St. Joseph (including some parts of Kansas) exported $185 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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