Exports are an important economic driver in New Jersey, with 92% of New Jersey’s 19,000 exporting companies being small or medium sized businesses. New Jersey’s ports make it a prime location for international trade, which helps support more than 1.2 million jobs in the state and $46.3 billion in exported goods.

• In New Jersey, 1,204,700 jobs were supported by trade, representing 21.4% of all jobs in the state.^1,2
• In 2022, 19,430 companies exported goods from New Jersey of which 92% were small- and medium-sized enterprises. In 2021, 288,300 people were employed by affiliates of companies at least 50% foreign-owned.^3,4

• New Jersey exported $49.5 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
  • Canada ($10 billion)
  • Mexico ($3.4 billion)
  • Japan ($3.2 billion)
  • China ($3.1 billion)
  • United Kingdom ($2.8 billion)
• Agricultural exports are important to New Jersey's economy, totaling $757 million in 2022, according to the USDA.⁶
• Since 2014, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed $4 billion in exports from 156 companies in New Jersey.⁷
• Since 1992, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency has helped facilitate $2.9 billion in exports from New Jersey companies.⁹

• From 2022-2023, 18,946 international students were enrolled in New Jersey colleges and universities and contributed $700 million to the New Jersey economy.¹⁰

• Since 1961, 5,417 Peace Corps volunteers from New Jersey have served in dozens of countries overseas.¹¹

1. https://s3.amazonaws.com/brt.org/Business-Roundtable_TradeandAmericanJobs2022.pdf
2. https://www.businessroundtable.org/policy-perspectives/trade-international/benefits-of-trade-data
3. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/edb/edbrel2021.pdf
4. https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2023-08/imne0823_0.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.mcc.gov/work-with-us/mcc-business/vehicles/
9. https://ustda.gov/ustda-success-by-state/
10. https://www.nafsa.org/policy-and-advocacy/policy-resources/nafsa-international-student-economic-value-tool-v2
11. https://www.peacecorps.gov/stories/peace-corps-announces-top-2023-volunteer-producing-states/