That dollar amount reflects a 26.6% increase from $21.7 billion four years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of Wisconsin’s exports grew by 10.5% compared to $24.8 billion for 2021.
Wisconsin ranks at the bottom of America’s 20 most lucrative exporters by state well behind front-runners including Texas, California, Louisiana, New York state and Illinois. The value of Wisconsin’s exports equals 1.3% of the United States’ overall exported products for 2022, down from 1.3% one year prior.
Based on research from Statista, Wisconsin’s exported products represent 8.8% of the state’s total economic output or real Gross Domestic Product ($311.7 billion).
Given Wisconsin’s population of 5.893 million people, its total $27.4 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $4,650 for every resident in the Badger State. That dollar metric outpaces the average $4,200 per capita in 2021.
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was 2.4% at the end of April 2023, down from 2.8% at March 2022 per YCharts.
Wisconsin’s Top 10 Exports
The following export products represent the highest dollar value in Wisconsin global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Wisconsin.
Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.
- Civilian aircraft, engines and parts: US$887.7 million (3.2% of Wisconsin’s exports)
- Outboard engines for marine vessels: $427.6 million (1.6%)
- Computed tomography equipment: $325.5 million (1.2%)
- Spark-ignition piston engine parts: $285.5 million (1%)
- Miscellaneous plastic items: $255.8 million (0.9%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $250.9 million (0.9%)
- Mowers, other cut devices: $223.2 million (0.8%)
- Static converters, ADP power supplies: $221.6 million (0.8%)
- Computer data storage devices: $172.9 million (0.6%)
- Electronic integrated circuits (processors, controllers): $45.2 million (0.2%)
Wisconsin’s top 10 exports accounted for 11.3% of the overall value of the state’s global shipments.
The fastest percentage increases in Wisconsinite export sales belong to computer data storage devices (up 333.3% from 2021), civilian aircraft or engines or parts (up 106.2%), mowers or other horizontal plane cutting devices (up 38.5%) then static converters and ADP power supplies (up 31.1%).
There was one year-over-year decliner among Wisconsin’s top 10 export products. Exports of electronic integrated circuit processors and controllers from Wisconsin fell -6.7% compared to 2021.
More Key Facts about Wisconsin’s International Trade
Wisconsin incurred an overall -US$13.6 billion trade deficit exporting and importing products during 2022. That dollar amount results from a 17.2% expansion from -$11.6 billion in red ink in 2021.
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 Wisconsin’s top 10 import products highlighting the state’s highest spending on foreign-made goods in 2022.
- Human medicine vaccines: US$3.7 billion (9.1% of Wisconsin’s imports)
- Medicines in measured doses for retail sale: $1.04 billion (2.5%)
- Hand tools with electric motors: $1.03 billion (2.5%)
- Static converters, ADP power supplies: $483.9 million (1.2%)
- Medium-size tractors: $426 million (1%)
- Smaller tractors: $370.4 million (0.9%)
- Parts of spark-ignition piston engines: $367.8 million (0.9%)
- Lithium ion batteries: $357.6 million (0.9%)
- Medical, dental, veterinarian instruments: $342.3 million (0.8%)
- Cotton sweaters, pullovers: $333.4 million (0.8%)
Wisconsin has negative net exports in the international trade of human-use vaccines, medicines in measured doses packaged for retail sale, and hand tools with electric motors. In turn, these cashflows indicate Wisconsin’s strong competitive disadvantages under these categories thus showing the strong impact of foreign-made vaccines and related goods on Wisconsin’s balance sheet.
Wisconsin’s Major Trade Partners
The following list shows the top 10 customers that purchase seven-tenths (70.5%) worth of the total value of products exported from Wisconsin during 2022.
- Canada: US$8.64 billion (31.5% of Wisconsin’s exports)
- Mexico: $3.6 billion (13.2%)
- mainland China: $1.8 billion (6.6%)
- Germany: $1.04 billion (3.8%)
- United Kingdom: $881.4 million (3.2%)
- Australia: $764.5 million (2.8%)
- Japan: $699.9 million (2.6%)
- Belgium: $668.5 million (2.4%)
- South Korea: $657.7 million (2.4%)
- Netherlands: $563.2 million (2.1%)
Wisconsin’s top trade partners in North America, namely Canada and Mexico, approached one-half (44.7%) of the total value of goods exported from the state.
Wisconsinite Export Companies
More than 20 of Wisconsin-headquartered corporations rank among America’s largest companies as documented in the Fortune 1000 listing. Selected examples are shown below.
- A. O. Smith Corporation (water boilers, heaters, tanks, treatment)
- Bemis Company (flexible packaging, pressure-sensitive materials)
- CUNA Mutual Group (financial services)
- Fiserv (financial services technology)
- Harley-Davidson (motorcycles)
- Oshkosh Corporation (specialty trucks, military vehicles)
- Plexus Corporation (electronic products)
- Regal Beloit Corporation (electric motors)
- Rockwell Automation (industrial automation systems)
- Snap-on Incorporated (industrial tools, equipment)
Shown within brackets for each company is a summary of the international trade-related product category or services in which each business deals.
Wisconsin’s capital is Madison, a city nicknamed Mad City and the Four Lakes City.
See also Nevada’s Top 10 Exports, Montana’s Top 10 Exports, Kentucky’s Top 10 Exports, Arizona’s Top 10 Exports and Maryland’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
BizTimes–Milwaukee Business News, Wisconsin has 9 firms on 2021 Fortune 500 list. Accessed on June 21, 2023
Department of Numbers, Wisconsin GDP (dollars shown in real terms). Accessed on June 21, 2023
FlagPictures.org, Flags of US States. Accessed on June 21, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 21, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 21, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 21, 2023
United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Wisconsin. Accessed on June 21, 2023
USA Trade Online, Official Source of Trade Statistics. Accessed on June 21, 2023
Wikipedia, Wisconsin. Accessed on June 21, 2023
Wikipedia, Category:Companies based in Wisconsin. Accessed on June 21, 2023
Wikipedia, List of U.S. states and territories by GDP. Accessed on June 21, 2023
World’s Capital Cities, Capital Facts for Madison, United States. Accessed on June 21, 2023
YCharts, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Report. Accessed on June 21, 2023