With two of the most heavily trafficked business hubs in the world in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, Texas reaches every part of the global economy. As the leading exporting state, over 38,000 Texan companies and over 3.6 million Texan workers support exports, and in 2022, Texas shipped more than $485 billion worth of goods to overseas markets.

• In Texas, 3,622,500 jobs were supported by international trade in 2019, representing 20.1% of all jobs in the state.^1,2
• In 2020, 38,074 companies exported goods from Texas of which 92% were small- and medium-sized enterprises. In 2018, 669,900 people were employed by affiliates of companies at least 50% foreign-owned.^3,4

• Texas exported $375.3 billion in goods to foreign markets in 2021, a 36% increase compared to 2020 driven by continued economic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy.⁵
  • Mexico ($144.2 billion)
  • Canada ($38.2 billion)
  • China ($22 billion)
  • South Korea ($21.7 billion)
  • Netherlands ($19.9 billion)
• Agricultural exports are important to Texas's' economy, totaling $7.2 billion in 2020, according to the USDA.⁶
• Since 2014, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed $14 billion in exports from 923 companies in Texas.⁷
• Since 1992, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency has helped facilitate $5.8 billion in exports from Texas companies.⁹

• During 2020, 70,223 international students were enrolled in Texas colleges and universities and contributed $1.8 billion to the Texas economy.¹⁰

• Since 1961, 8,154 Peace Corps volunteers from Texas 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/