North Dakota’s manufacturing expertise and agricultural commodities are in increasing demand throughout the world. Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Germany are all major destinations for North Dakota’s farm equipment, manufactured goods, and oil and gas exports. Overall, North Dakota exported $5.2 billion in goods in 2022, and international trade supports more than 107,000 jobs in the state.

• In North Dakota, 107,200 jobs were supported by international trade in 2019, representing 18.3% of all jobs in the state.^1,2
• In 2020, 1,546 companies exported goods from North Dakota of which 85% were small- and medium-sized enterprises. In 2018, 15,900 people were employed by affiliates of companies at least 50% foreign-owned.^3,4

• North Dakota exported $5.2 billion in goods to foreign markets in 2021, the same compared to 2020.⁵
  • Canada ($3.9 billion)
  • Mexico ($451 million)
  • Australia ($197 million)
  • Czech Republic ($77 million)
  • Germany ($74 million)
• Agricultural exports are important to North Dakota's' economy, totaling $4.9 billion in 2020, according to the USDA.⁶
• Since 2014, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed $50 million in exports from 20 companies in North Dakota.⁷
• Since 1992, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency has helped facilitate $6.9 million in exports from North Dakota companies.⁹

• During 2020, 1,869 international students were enrolled in North Dakota colleges and universities and contributed $38.3 million to the North Dakota economy.¹⁰

• Since 1961, 592 Peace Corps volunteers from North Dakota 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/