Facts & Figures

Exports are big businessin Illinois. Asthe sixth largest exporter in the U.S., and the largest in the Midwest, exports are a major part of the Illinois economy. NAFTA has proven to be particularly important, boosting Canada and Mexico to the top spotsfor exportsfromIllinois.Justlast year, Illinois exportsto ourNorthAmerican neighborsincreased by more than 20%

Job Creation

Trade supported over 1.5 million jobs in Illinois in 2008, or almost 22% of total jobs, up from 10% in 1992.¹
One-quarter of all manufacturing workers in Illinois depended on exports for their jobs.²
In 2008, almost 300,000 people in Illinois were employed by U.S. affiliates of companiesthat are at least 50% foreign-owned.³

Exports and Growth

Illinois exported nearly $50 billion in merchandise to foreign markets in 2010. Illinois’ largest market in 2010 was Canada ($14.7 billion), followed by Mexico ($4.3 billion), China ($3.2
billion), Australia ($2.4 billion) and Germany ($2.2 billion).⁴
In 2008, about 17,000 companies exported goodsfrom Illinois. Of these, 90% were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.⁵
Agricultural exports are important to Illinois’economy, totaling $1.5 billion in 2010.⁶
Since 2007, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed over $3 billion in exports from 220 companies in 100 communities in Illinois.⁷
Since 1971, Overseas Private Investment Corporation has invested over $2.1 billion in companies throughout Illinois and generated more than 2 billion in U.S. exports.⁸

Education and Research

In 2008–2009, over 9,000 Illinois students studied abroad.⁹
During 2009–2010, over 30,000 international students were enrolled in Illinois colleges and universities and contributed nearly $900 million to the Illinois economy.¹⁰

Global Engagement

Since 1961, over 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers from Illinois have served in dozens of countries overseas.¹¹
Support from U.S. government grants and contracts to private voluntary organizations engaged in foreign assistance and development in Illinois totaled nearly $125 million in 2008.¹²

Download the Fact Sheet

http://businessroundtable.org/uploads/studies-reports/downloads/Trade_and_American_Jobs.pdf
http://ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/state_reports/
Anderson, Thomas and William J. Zeile. “U.S. Affiliates of Foreign Companies Operations in 2008”. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce. http://www.bea.gov/scb/pdf/2010/11%20November/1110_us_ops.pdf
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/state/data/il.html
http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/state_reports/index.html
http://www.fas.usda.gov/info/factsheets/WTO/states.html
https://webappsprod01.exim.gov/apps/usmap/usmap.nsf
http://www.opic.gov/sites/default/files/docs/OPIC_local_impact.pdf
Institute of International Education. “Open Doors 2010 Report on International Educational Exchange Institute of International Education”. STUDY ABROAD BY U.S. STATE, 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/