Alaska’s bountiful natural resources drive $5.6 billion in exports and trade, which support nearly 93,000 jobs in the state. While Alaska’s world-renowned seafood drives over half of all its exports, Alaska’s plentiful oil, gas, timber, and precious metals are also in high demand around the world.

• In Alaska, 92,700 jobs were supported by international trade in 2019, representing 20.2% of all jobs in the state.^1,2
• In 2020, 705 companies exported goods from Alaska of which 71% were small- and medium-sized enterprises. In 2018, 13,700 people were employed by affiliates of companies at least 50% foreign-owned.^3,4

• Alaska exported $6.0 billion in goods to foreign markets in 2021, a 30% increase compared to 2020 driven by continued economic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy.⁵
  • China ($1.1 billion)
  • Japan ($893 million)
  • Canada ($823 million)
  • South Korea ($781 million)
  • Australia ($430 million)
• Agricultural exports are important to Alaska's' economy, totaling $22.6 million in 2020, according to the USDA.⁶
• Since 2014, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed $13 million in exports from 1 companies in Alaska.⁷

• During 2020, 301 international students were enrolled in Alaska colleges and universities and contributed $9.7 million to the Alaska economy.¹⁰

• Since 1961, 1,052 Peace Corps volunteers from Alaska have served in dozens of countries overseas.¹¹

1. https://tradepartnership.com/reports/trade-and-american-jobs-the-impact-of-trade-on-u-s-and-state-level-employment-update-2020/
2. https://www.businessroundtable.org/policy-perspectives/trade-international/benefits-of-trade-data
3. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/edb/2019/index.html
4. https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/imne1120.pdf
5. https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/state-economy-and-trade-factsheets
6. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets.aspx#.U2ERwbQzqX8
7. https://www.exim.gov/customer-map/
8. https://www.opic.gov/sites/default/files/docs/OPIC_local_impact.pdf
9. https://ustda.gov/ustda-success-by-state/
10. https://opendoorsdata.org/fact_sheets/
11. https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-announces-top-volunteer-producing-states-2018/