Facts & Figures

Colorado’s central location within the U.S., its supportive business climate and well-trained workforce, and the broad array of high-quality products found locally make exports an ideal path to economic success. Colorado businesses currently export about $8 billion worth of manufactured and agricultural products annually, supporting about 89,000 jobs.

Job Creation

Trade supported 695,500 jobs in Colorado in 2008, or 21.2% of total jobs, up from 11% in 1992.¹
About one-quarter (23.8%) of all manufacturing workers in Colorado depended on exports for their jobs.²
In 2008, 85,400 people in Colorado were employed by U.S. affiliates of companies that are at least 50% foreign-owned.³

Exports and Growth

Colorado exported $6.7 billion in merchandise to foreign markets in 2010. Colorado’s largest market in 2010 was Canada ($1.6 billion), followed by Mexico ($590 million), China ($557 million), the Netherlands ($333 million), and Germany ($320 million).⁴
In 2008, 4,755 companies exported goods from Colorado. Of these, 88% were small- and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
Agricultural exports are important to Colorado’s economy, totaling $1.4 billion and supporting about 16,216 jobs in 2008.⁵
Since 2007, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed over $1.26 billion in exports from 60 companies in 26 communities in Colorado.⁶

Education and Research

In 2008–2009, 4,463 Colorado students studied abroad, a 4.1% increase over the previous academic year.⁷
During 2009–2010, 6,980 international students were enrolled in Colorado colleges and universities and contributed $202.1 million to the Colorado economy.⁸

Global Engagement

Since 1961, 6,341 Peace Corps volunteers from Colorado have served in dozens of countries overseas.⁹
Support from U.S. government grants and contracts to private voluntary organizations engaged in foreign assistance and development in Colorado totaled $8,928,321 in 2008.¹⁰

http://businessroundtable.org/uploads/studies-reports/downloads/Trade_and_American_Jobs.pdf
http://www.trade.gov/mas/ian/statereports/
http://www.bea.gov/scb/pdf/2010/11%20November/1110_us_ops.pdf
http://www.trade.gov/mas/ian/statereports/
http://www.fas.usda.gov/info/factsheets/WTO/states.html
https://webappsprod01.exim.gov/apps/usmap/usmap.nsf
http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/Fact-Sheets-by-US-State
http://www.nafsa.org/publicpolicy/default.aspx?id=23158
http://multimedia.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/stats/homestates.pdf
http://www.pvo.net/usaid/