That dollar amount results from an 27% increase from $8.1 billion four years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of goods exported from Colorado accelerated by 13.4% compared to $9.1 billion in 2021.
Colorado ranks among America’s 35 most lucrative exporters by state well behind front-runners including Texas, California, Louisiana, New York State and Illinois. The value of Colorado’s exports equals 0.5% of the United States’ overall exported products for 2022.
Based on research from Statista, Colorado’s exported products represent 2.7% of the state’s total economic output or real Gross Domestic Product in 2022 ($385.8 billion).
Given Colorado’s population of 5.84 million people, its total $10.3 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $1,800 for every resident in the Centennial State. That dollar metric exceeds the average $1,400 exports per capita in 2021.
Colorado’s unemployment rate was 2.8% at the end of March 2023, down from the state’s 3.6% jobless rate in February 2022 per YCharts.
Colorado’s Top 10 Exports
The following export products represent the highest dollar value in Colorado global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Colorado.
Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.
- Beef cuts (boneless, fresh/chilled): US$629.4 million (6.1% of Colorado’s exports)
- Beef (boneless, frozen): $596.1 million (5.8%)
- Integrated circuits (excluding processors/controllers): $542.8 million (5.3%)
- Civilian aircraft, parts including engines: $466.4 million (4.5%)
- Medical/dental/veterinarian instruments: $273 million (2.7%)
- Gold (unwrought): $222.4 million (2.2%)
- Orthopedic appliances, parts or accessories: $195.9 million (1.9%)
- Beef cuts (bone-in, frozen): $188.5 million (1.8%)
- Heterocyclic compounds with nitrogen hetero-atoms: $151.8 million (1.5%)
- Instruments using optical radiations: $137.9 million (1.3%)
Colorado’s top 10 exports accounted for about one-third (33.1%) of the overall value of the state’s global shipments.
Posting the strongest gains from 2021 to 2022 were Colorado’s exports of gold (up 7,097%), heterocyclic compounds with nitrogen hetero-atoms (up 209.7%), civilian aircraft including engines or other parts (up 52.3%), orthopedic appliances including parts or accessories (up 42.4%), then frozen beef (with bone up 35.9%, boneless up 26.1%).
Year over year, the severest decliners were electronic integrated circuits excluding processors and controllers (down -12.2% from 2021) and medical, surgical, dental and veterinary instruments (down -7.6%).
More Key Facts about Colorado’s International Trade
Colorado incurred a -$9.9 billion trade deficit exporting and importing products during 2022. That dollar amount reflects an 38.4% expansion from -$7.2 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 Colorado’s top 10 import products highlighting the state’s highest spending on foreign-made goods in 2022.
- Crude petroleum oils: US$4 billion (19.9% of Colorado’s imports)
- Integrated circuits (excluding processors/controllers): $1.8 billion (8.9%)
- Integrated circuits (processors/controllers): $616.6 million (3.1%)
- Large aircraft: $468.2 million (2.3%)
- Modems, similar reception/transmission devices: $353.7 million (1.7%)
- Footwear (rubber or plastic): $338.9 million (1.7%)
- Hearing aids: $336.3 million (1.7%)
- Digital processing units (individual components): $279.6 million (1.4%)
- Medical/dental/veterinarian instruments: $258.5 million (1.3%)
- Computer storage units: $236.6 million (1.2%)
Colorado has highly negative net exports in the international trade of crude petroleum oils and, to a lesser degree, electronic integrated circuits. In turn, these cashflows indicate Colorado’s competitive disadvantages under these product categories.
Colorado’s Major Trade Partners
The following list shows the top 10 customers that purchased almost three-quarters (72%) worth of the total value of products exported from Colorado during 2022.
- Canada: US$1.7 billion (16.6% of Colorado’s exports)
- Mexico: $1.44 billion (14%)
- mainland China: $917 million (8.9%)
- South Korea: $760.9 million (7.4%)
- Switzerland: $727.4 million (7.1%)
- Malaysia: $497.4 million (4.8%)
- Japan: $492.7 million (4.8%)
- Netherlands: $311.9 million (3%)
- Germany: $289.1 million (2.8%)
- United Kingdom: $261.1 million (2.5%)
Colorado’s trade partners in North America (Canada and Mexico) bought one third (30.6%) of the overall value of goods exported from the Centennial State.
Colorado supplied 25.9% worth of its exports to leading trade partners in Asia (mainland China, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan), with 15.5% going to major buyers in Europe (Switzerland), Netherlands, Germany and the UK.
Coloradan Export Companies
Twenty-two of Colorado-based corporations rank among Fortune 1000 Companies, a list that showcases America’s largest businesses. Selected examples are listed below.
- Antero Resources Corp (oil, natural gas, ethane)
- DCP Midstream Partners (petroleum refinery, transportation)
- EchoStar Corp (satellite products, services)
- Molson Coors Brewing Co. (beer, wine, spirits, energy drinks)
- Newmont Mining Corp (gold, copper, silver)
- QEP Resources (oil, natural gas)
- Western Union (financial services, communications)
- WhiteWave Foods Co. (plant-based foods, beverages, dairy goods)
- Whiting Petroleum Corp (oil, natural gas)
- Woodward, Inc. (control systems, related components)
Shown within brackets for each company is a summary of the international trade-related products or services which each business sells.
Colorado’s capital is Denver, a city nicknamed “The Mile High City”.
See also Connecticut’s Top 10 Exports, South Dakota’s Top 10 Exports, West Virginia’s Top 10 Exports, Delaware’s Top 10 Exports and New Hampshire’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Department of Numbers, Colorado GDP (dollars shown in real terms). Accessed on May 6, 2023
FlagPictures.org, Flags of US States. Accessed on May 6, 2023
Forbes, 2019 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 6, 2023
GeoLounge, Fortune 1000 Companies List for 2019 , Fortune 1000 by State and Place. Accessed on May 6, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 6, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 6, 2023
State Symbols USA, State Nicknames. Accessed on May 6, 2023
Statista, Real gross domestic product of Colorado. Accessed on May 6, 2023
United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Colorado. Accessed on May 6, 2023
USA Trade Online, Official Source of Trade Statistics. Accessed on May 6, 2023
Wikipedia, Colorado. Accessed on May 6, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Colorado Companies. Accessed on May 6, 2023
Wikipedia, List of U.S. states and territories by GDP. Accessed on May 6, 2023
World’s Capital Cities, Capital Facts for Denver, United States. Accessed on May 6, 2023
YCharts, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Report. Accessed on May 6, 2023