That dollar amount represents a 13.7% increase in spending from $395.3 billion in 2020, but an -11.6% year-over-year drop from $508.7 billion for 2022.
California is America’s biggest imports-spending state well ahead of Texas, Illinois, Michigan, New York state, New Jersey and Georgia.
The value of California’s imports equals 14.2% of the overall value of goods imported into the United States of America for 2023, down from 15.7% in 2022.
Based on California’s population of 39 million people, its total $449.5 billion in 2023 imports translates to roughly $11,500 for every consumer living in “The Golden State”. That dollar metric lags the per capita average of $13,000 one year earlier in 2022.
Another key economic indicator, California’s jobless rate was 5.1% at December 2023 up from 4.1% in one year earlier, per YCharts.
California’s Top 15 Imports
The following import products represent the highest dollar value in California’s international purchases during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each import category represents in terms of overall imports into California.
Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.
- 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%)
- Color TV reception equipment: $6.4 billion (1.4%)
- Miscellaneous digital processing units: $6.02 billion (1.3%)
- Photovoltaic cells in solar modules, panels: $6 billion (1.3%)
- Automobiles powered by electric motor only: $5.5 billion (1.2%)
- Wheeled toys (tricycles, scooters, pedal cars, doll carriages): $5.33 billion (1.2%)
- Large automobiles (piston engine): $5.29 billion (1.2%)
- Refined petroleum oils excluding biodiesel: $4.6 billion (1%)
- Electronic integrated circuits (processors, controllers): $4.4 billion (1%)
California’s top 15 imports represented almost one-third (32.9%) of the overall value of the state’s global shipments.
Year over year, the product imported into California that appreciated the most in cost from 2022 to 2023 were automobiles powered by electric motor only (up 77.7%).
Other double-digit gains were recorded for California’s imports of photovoltaic cells in solar modules or panels (up 66.3% from 2022) and lithium ion batteries (up 44.7%).
The severest decliners among California’s leading imports were large automobiles with piston engines (down -26.7% from 2022), wheeled toys including tricycles, scooters, pedal cars and doll carriages (down -22.5%), refined petroleum oils excluding biodiesel (down -22.1%), processors and controllers for electronic integrated circuits (down -14.4%) then color television reception equipment (down -13.4%).
More Key Facts about California’s International Trade
California racked up an overall -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 export products highlighting the state’s highest revenue makers from international sales during 2023.
- 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%)
In contrast to the above listed items, California has notably negative net imports in the international trade of crude oil, automobiles, small portable digital computers, smartphones. In turn, these cashflows indicate California’s strong competitive disadvantages under these product categories thus highlighting the strong impact of these foreign-made goods have on California’s global balance sheet.
Best Import Suppliers for California
The following list shows the top 10 countries that supply over three-quarters (77.3%) worth of the total value of products imported into California during 2023.
- mainland China: US$130.3 billion (32.9% of California’s total imports)
- Mexico: $47.9 billion (12.1%)
- Canada: $26.5 billion (6.7%)
- South Korea: $21.1 billion (5.3%)
- Japan: $20.4 billion (5.1%)
- Vietnam: $20.2 billion (5.1%)
- Taiwan: $20 billion (5%)
- Thailand: $12.2 billion (3.1%)
- Malaysia: $10.6 billion (2.7%)
- Germany: $9.6 billion (2.4%)
California’s top trade partners in North America, Canada and Mexico, accounted for 18.8% of the overall value of products imported into the Golden State.
That percentage falls far below the nearly three-fifths (59.2%) for leading Asian suppliers that furnish products to Californian importers (mainland China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia).
Major Californian Import Companies
Fifty-three of California-headquartered corporations rank among America’s leading companies showcased on 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 for the main industry in which each business operates.
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 Imports and California’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
FlagPictures.org, Flags of US States. Accessed on June 2, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 2, 2024
Fortune Finance * California, California’s Economy Is Now Bigger Than All of the UK. Accessed on June 2, 2024
IBIS World, State Economic Profile (including GDP). Accessed on June 2, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 2, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 2, 2024
Los Angeles Times, The new Fortune 500 list is out. These California companies made the cut. Accessed on June 2, 2024
United States Census Bureau, Foreign Trade (State by 6-Digit HS Code). Accessed on June 2, 2024
United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts: California. Accessed on June 2, 2024
USA Trade Online, Official Source of Trade Statistics. Accessed on June 2, 2024
Wikipedia, California. Accessed on June 2, 2024
Wikipedia, Economy of California (GDP). Accessed on June 2, 2024
Wikipedia, List of California Companies. Accessed on June 2, 2024
Wikipedia, List of U.S. states and territories by GDP. Accessed on June 2, 2024
YCharts, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Report. Accessed on June 2, 2024