December 2011
Exports Support Jobs for Indiana's Workers
Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 7.4 percent of Indiana's total private-sector employment. Nearly one-quarter (22.7 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Indiana depend on exports for their jobs (2009 data latest available).
Exports Sustain Thousands of Indiana Businesses
A total of 6,279 companies exported from Indiana locations in 2009. Of those, 5,400 (86 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.
Small and medium-sized firms generated one-fifth (20 percent) of Indiana's total exports of merchandise in 2009.
Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Indiana
In 2009, foreign-controlled companies employed 131,400 Indiana workers. Major sources of foreign investment in Indiana in 2009 included Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.
Foreign investment in Indiana was responsible for 5.5 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2009.
Indiana Depends on World Markets
Indiana's export shipments of merchandise in 2010 totaled $28.7 billion.
The state's largest market was Canada. Indiana posted merchandise exports of $10.7 billion to Canada in 2010, 37 percent of the state’s total merchandise exports. Canada was followed by Mexico ($2.6 billion), Germany ($1.8 billion), the United Kingdom ($1.5 billion), and France ($1.4 billion).
The state's largest merchandise export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for $8.0 billion of Indiana's total merchandise exports in 2010. Other top merchandise exports are chemicals manufactures ($7.6 billion), machinery manufactures ($3.5 billion), computers and electronic products ($1.7 billion), and miscellaneous manufactures ($1.7 billion).
Indiana's Metropolitan Exports
In 2009, the metropolitan area of Indianapolis-Carmel exported $8.0 billion in merchandise, 38.1 percent of Indiana's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Indiana that exported in 2009 were Elkhart-Goshen ($1.0 billion), Fort Wayne ($917 million), and Kokomo ($759 million). Several major metropolitan area exporters in Indiana included some counties from neighboring states. Chicago-Naperville- Joliet (including some parts of Illinois and Wisconsin) exported $28.2 billion, while Cincinnati-Middletown (including some parts of Ohio and Kentucky) exported $15.5 billion, Louisville-Jefferson County (including some parts of Kentucky) exported $5.3 billion, Evansville (including some parts of Kentucky) exported $2.0 billion, and South Bend-Mishawaka (including some parts of Michigan) exported $785 million in merchandise for 2009.
Exports Support Jobs
Note: Export-related employment data shown do not include manufacturing and non-manufacturing jobs involved in the export of non-manufactured goods, such as farm products, minerals, and services sold to foreign buyers. Indirect exports exclude imported items. The complete 2009 export-related employment series is available on our Export Related Jobs pages. Additional information on methodology used in the export-related employment series can be found in the U.S. Census Bureau's publication Exports from Manufacturing Establishments: 2009.
Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.
Exports Sustain Businesses
Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.
Foreign Investment
Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Trade with World Markets
Source: Revised Origin of Movement State Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.
Caution: The Origin of Movement series allocates exports to states based on transportation origin, i.e., the state from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a state should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement state export figures.
Metropolitan Exports
Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Metropolitan Export Series.
Caution: The Origin of Movement zip-based series allocates exports to metropolitan areas based on transportation origin, i.e., the metropolitan area from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a metropolitan area should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement zip-based export figures.
Prepared by the Office of Trade and Industry Information, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Data updated December 5, 2011.
Click here to return to the list of all the state "Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment" reports.