Iowa: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Iowa's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 7.4 percent of Iowa's total private-sector employment. Nearly one-sixth (16.2 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Iowa 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 Iowa Businesses

A total of 2,248 companies exported goods from Iowa locations in 2006. Of those, 1,813 (81 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises, with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated more than one-fifth (21 percent) of Iowa'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 Iowa

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 40,200 workers in Iowa. Major sources of Iowa's foreign investment in 2006 were the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Canada.

Over two-fifths of these jobs (43 percent, or 17,400 workers) were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies accounted for 7.5 percent of total manufacturing employment in Iowa in 2006.

Foreign investment in Iowa was responsible for 3.1 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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Iowa Depends on World Markets

Iowa's export shipments of merchandise in 2008 totaled $12.1 billion, up 25 percent. from 2007. Iowa's export shipments grew 89 percent from 2004 to 2008, the fourteenth largest percentage gain among the states, and well above the national percentage growth of 59 percent over that time period.

These statistics, while showing that exports are important to Iowa, nevertheless understate the true significance of exports to Iowa's economy. This is because crop exports are frequently handled by middlemen, and such shipments often cannot be tracked back to producing states.

The state's largest export market, by far, was Canada. Iowa exported $3.8 billion worth of merchandise to the Canadian market in 2008, nearly one-third (32 percent) of the state's export total that year. Canada was followed by Mexico (2008 exports of $1.9 billion), Japan ($824 million), Germany ($573 million), and Russia ($379 million).

Iowa's leading export category is machinery manufactures. Machinery manufactures accounted for over one-fourth (29 percent), or $3.5 billion, of Iowa's total merchandise exports in 2008. Iowa's other top manufactured exports are processed foods ($2.2 billion in 2008), chemical manufactures ($1.1 billion), and computer and electronic products ($740 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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Iowa's Metropolitan Exports

In 2007, the metropolitan area of Cedar Rapids exported $817 million in merchandise, 12 percent of Iowa's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Iowa that exported in 2007 included Des Moines-West Des Moines ($786 million), and Waterloo-Cedar Falls ($223 million). Three major metropolitan area exporters in Iowa included some counties from neighboring states. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island (including some parts of Illinois) exported $4.1 billion, while Omaha-Council Bluffs (including some parts of Nebraska) exported $1.9 billion, and Sioux City (including some parts of Nebraska and South Dakota) exported $735 million in merchandise in 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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