Year over year, the overall value of exports from California slowed by -4% compared to $186.2 billion one year earlier during 2022.
California is America’s second-biggest exporter by state behind only oil-rich Texas, but well ahead of Louisiana, New York state and Illinois. The value of California’s exports equals 8.9% of the United States’ overall exported product sales for 2023 ($2.019 trillion). That percentage is down from 9% for 2022.
California’s exported products also represent 4.6% of the state’s total economic output or nominal Gross Domestic Product in 2023 ($3.89 trillion). That percentage is a reduction from 5.1% one year ago.
The most valuable products shipped from California are civilian aircraft plus aircraft engines or other parts, modems and similar reception or transmission devices, and refined petroleum oils excluding biodiesel. Combined, those commodities generated 8.9% of California’s total export sales during 2023..
Given California’s population of 38 million people, its total $178.7 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $4,587 for every resident in “The Golden State”–down from $4,750 per capita in 2022.
California’s unemployment rate was 5.1% at December 2023 up from 4.1% in one year earlier, per YCharts.
California’s Top 10 Exports
The following export products represent the highest dollar value in California global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from California.
Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.
- Civilian aircraft and aircraft engines or other parts: US$6.8 billion (3.8% of California’s total exports)
- Modems, similar reception/transmission devices: $5.2 billion (2.9%)
- Refined petroleum oils excluding biodiesel: $3.9 billion (2.2%)
- Electronic integrated circuits: $3.7 billion (2.1%)
- Parts or accessories for making semi-conductor devices: $3.3 billion (1.8%)
- Shelled almonds $2.88 billion (1.6%)
- Medical, dental or veterinarian appliances: $2.87 billion (1.6%)
- Computer parts or accessories: $2.87 billion (1.6%)
- Diagnostic or laboratory reagents: $2.78 billion (1.6%)
- Diamonds (worked, non-industrial): $2.6 billion (1.5%)
California’s top 10 exports represent just over one-fifth (20.6%) of the overall value of the state’s global shipments.
Refined petroleum oils excluding biodiesel was the fastest grower among California’s top 10 export categories, up by 19.6% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales were modems or similar reception and transmission devices thanks to a 17.9% gain.
Shipments of medical, dental or veterinarian instruments posted the third-fastest improvement via a 9.6% increase in value compared to 2022.
The severest decliners among California’s top 10 export products were worked diamonds (down -38.4% from 2022) then parts or accessories for making semi-conductor devices (down -26.7%) and computer parts or accessories (down -20.6%).
More Key Facts about California’s Exports
Overall, California incurred a -US$270.8 billion deficit exporting and importing products during 2023. That dollar amount reflects a -16.2% year-over-year reduction from -$323.2 billion in red ink for 2022.
Another way of saying surplus or deficit is positive or negative net exports. In a nutshell, the term “net exports” quantifies the amount by which foreign spending on a state’s goods or services exceeds or lags that same state’s spending on foreign goods or services.
Below are California’s top 10 import products highlighting the state’s highest spending on foreign-made goods in 2021.
- Crude petroleum oils: US$25.2 billion (5.6% of California’s total imports)
- Mid-sized automobiles (piston engine): $18.5 billion (4.1%)
- Small portable digital computers: $15.9 billion (3.5%)
- Computer parts and accessories: $14 billion (3.1%)
- Modems, similar reception/transmission devices: $11.4 billion (2.5%)
- Smartphones: $11 billion (2.4%)
- Lithium ion batteries: $8.6 billion (1.9%)
- Reception equipment including color television: $6.4 billion (1.4%)
- Miscellaneous digit processing units: $6.02 billion (1.3%)
- Photovoltaic cells in solar modules or panels: $5.998 billion (1.2%)
California has highly negative net exports in the international trade of crude petroleum oil, automobiles and computer hardware. In turn, these cashflows indicate California’s strong competitive disadvantages under these product categories thus highlighting the strong impact of foreign-made goods on California’s global balance sheet.
California’s Major Trading Partners
The following list shows the top 10 customers that purchased over two-thirds (67.9%) worth of the total value of products exported from California during 2022.
- Mexico: US$33.3 billion (18.6% of California’s total exports)
- Canada: $19.1 billion (10.7%)
- China: $16.9 billion (9.4%)
- Japan: $10.6 billion (5.9%)
- South Korea: $9.4 billion (5.3%)
- Taiwan: $8.8 billion (5%)
- Netherlands: $6.1 billion (3.4%)
- Germany: $5.9 billion (3.3%)
- United Kingdom: $5.7 billion (3.2%)
- Hong Kong: $5.6 billion (3.1%)
California’s top trade partners in North America, Canada and Mexico, generated well over one-quarter (29.3%) of the overall value of exported goods from the state. That percentage eclipses the 28.7% for top Asian countries (mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong) that are among the leading customers for exports from California.
California Export Companies
Fifty-three of California-headquartered corporations rank among America’s leading companies showcased in the Fortune 500 listing. Selected examples are listed below, sorted by highest revenues.
- Apple Inc. (computer hardware, software)
- McKesson Corporation (pharmaceuticals, medical technology)
- Chevron Corporation (petroleum, natural gas, petrochemicals)
- Wells Fargo (multinational financial services)
- Alphabet Inc (technology, autonomous cars, software)
- Intel Corporation (microprocessors, chips, mobile phones, flash memories)
- Hewlett-Packard (computer hardware, software)
- Cisco Systems (telecom equipment, networking hardware)
- Oracle (servers, workstations, storage devices, middleware)
- Gilead Sciences (pharmaceuticals, biotechnology products)
Shown within brackets for each company is a summary of the international trade-related product categories in which each business deals.
California’s capital city is Sacramento, nicknamed “The City of Trees” and “Sactown”.
See also America’s Top 20 Export States, United States Top 10 Exports and Top United States Trade Balances
Research Sources:
FlagPictures.org, Flags of US States. Accessed on February 27, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on February 27, 2024
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IBIS World, State Economic Profile (including GDP). Accessed on February 27, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on February 27, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on February 27, 2024
Los Angeles Times, The new Fortune 500 list is out. These California companies made the cut. Accessed on February 27, 2024
United States Census Bureau, Foreign Trade (State by 6-Digit HS Code). Accessed on February 27, 2024
United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts: California. Accessed on February 27, 2024
USA Trade Online, Official Source of Trade Statistics. Accessed on February 27, 2024
Wikipedia, California. Accessed on February 27, 2024
Wikipedia, Economy of California (GDP). Accessed on February 27, 2024
Wikipedia, List of California Companies. Accessed on February 27, 2024
Wikipedia, List of U.S. states and territories by GDP. Accessed on February 27, 2024
YCharts, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Report. Accessed on February 27, 2024