California is one of the world’s largest economies, fueled by trade and exports that support nearly 5.1 million jobs in the state. California exports about $368 billion worth of goods and services annually, led by the state’s thriving agriculture and technology manufacturing industry. But it isn’t just big business that benefits – 95% of all California exporters are small- and medium-sized businesses.

• In California, 5,100,000 jobs were supported by trade, representing 20.0% of all jobs in the state.^1,2
• In 2023, 61,340 companies exported goods from California, of which 95% were small- and medium-sized enterprises. In 2022, 852,300 people were employed by affiliates of companies at least 50% foreign-owned.^3,4

• California exported $368 billion in goods and services to foreign markets in 2023. ⁵
  • Mexico ($40.3 billion)
  • Canada ($34.2 billion)
  • China ($25.2 billion)
  • United Kingdom ($23.8 billion)
  • Ireland ($22.5 billion)
• Agricultural exports are important to California's economy, totaling $24.3 billion annually, according to the USDA.⁶
• Since 2014, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed $15 billion in exports from 673 companies in California.⁷
• Since 1992, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency has helped facilitate $3 billion in exports from California companies.⁹

• From 2023-2024, 140,858 international students were enrolled in California colleges and universities, contributing $6.4 billion to the California economy.¹⁰

• Since 1961, 31,049 Peace Corps volunteers from California have served in dozens of countries overseas.¹¹

1. https://www.uschamber.com/international/trade-agreements/trade-means-growth-for-america?state=
2. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/edb/edbrel2023.pdf
3. https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-11/imne-1124.pdf
4. https://www.uschamber.com/international/trade-agreements/trade-means-growth-for-america
5. https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/state-trade-and-economy-factsheets
6. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-agricultural-trade-data
7. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-agricultural-trade-data/annual-state-agricultural-exports
8. https://www.exim.gov/customer-map/
9. https://www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/contracts-map
10. https://files.peacecorps.gov/documents/Home_states_of_Peace_Corps_volunteers.pdf
11. https://opendoorsdata.org/fact_sheets/state-fact-sheets/