
That dollar amount reflects a 40.6% increase over the 4-year period starting with $75.6 billion for 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of exports from New York accelerated by 17.9% compared to $90.1 billion during 2021.
In 2022, New York was America’s fourth-biggest exporter by state behind Texas, California and Louisiana. The value of New York’s exports equals 5.2% of the United States’ overall exported products for 2022, up from 5.1% for 2021.
Based on metrics from Statista, New York’s exported products represent an estimated 6.8% of the state’s total economic output or real Gross Domestic Product in 2022 ($1.56 trillion in in current dollars based on Statista’s statistics).
Given New York’s population of 19.677 million people, its total $106.3 billion in 2022 exported products translates to roughly $5,400 for every resident in The Empire State. That dollar metric eclipses the average $4,500 per capita one year earlier during 2021.
New York’s unemployment rate was 4.1% in March 2023, down from the 8.9% jobless rate in February 2022 per YCharts.
New York’s Top 10 Exports
The following export products represent the highest dollar value in New York global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from New York state.
Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.
- Gold (unwrought): US$24.8 billion (23.3% of New York’s total exports)
- Diamonds (unmounted): $12.7 billion (11.9%)
- Jewelry made with precious metals: $5.7 billion (5.4%)
- Hand-drawn paintings, drawings under 101 years old: $4.4 billion (4.2%)
- Rubies, sapphires, emeralds: $1.7 billion (1.6%)
- Hand-drawn paintings, drawings over 100 years old: $1.6 billion (1.5%)
- Original sculptures, statues: $1.03 billion (1%)
- Electronic integrated circuits (processors/controllers): $1.014 billion (1%)
- Miscellaneous items clad in precious metals: $992.2 million (0.9%)
- Civilian aircraft including engines, parts: $848.4 million (0.8%)
New York’s top 10 exports represent 51.5% of the overall value of the state’s global shipments.
The fastest-growing exports from New York in 2022 were miscellaneous items clad in precious metals propelled by a 214.5% gain, ahead of unwrought gold (up 68.5% from 2021), jewelry made with precious metals (up 48.3%), unmounted diamonds (up 32.7%), then rubies or sapphires and emeralds (up 31.5%).
The sole decliner recorded among New York’s top 10 export products was the civilian aircraft including engines and parts. That product category fell by -20.1% compared to 2021.
More Key Facts about New York’s International Trade
New York incurred an overall -$76.2 billion deficit exporting and importing products during 2022. That dollar amount reflects a 19.4% year-over-year expansion from -$63.8 billion in red ink one year earlier for 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 New York’s top 10 import products highlighting the state’s highest spending on foreign-made goods in 2022.
- Diamonds (unmounted): US$21.6 billion (11.8% of New York’s total imports)
- Miscellaneous items clad in precious metals: $11.7 billion (6.4%)
- Jewelry made with precious metals: $5.5 billion (3%)
- Hand-drawn paintings, drawings under 101 years old: $3.045 billion (1.7%)
- Natural gas (gaseous state): $2.34 billion (1.3%)
- Hand-drawn paintings, drawings over 100 years old: $2.16 billion (1.2%)
- Non-gold coins (excluding legal currency): $2.02 billion (1.1%)
- Odiferous substance mixtures: $1.83 billion (1%)
- Wrist watches: $1.5 billion (0.8%)
- Rhodium, unwrought or in powder form: $1.46 billion (0.8%)
New York has highly negative net exports in the international trade of diamonds and miscellaneous items clad in precious metals. In turn, these cashflows indicate New York’s competitive disadvantages under those product categories on New York state’s global balance sheet.
New York’s Major Trading Partners
The following list shows the top 10 trade partners that purchased nearly three-quarters (73.3%) worth of the total value of products exported from New York during 2022.
- Switzerland: US$23.6 billion (22.2% of New York’s total exports)
- Canada: $19.7 billion (18.5%)
- Hong Kong: $6.2 billion (5.8%)
- India: $4.95 billion (4.7%)
- United Kingdom: $4.88 billion (4.6%)
- Israel: $4.2 billion (3.9%)
- Germany: $4.1 billion (3.8%)
- Singapore: $3.7 billion (3.5%)
- Mainland China: $3.4 billion (3.2%)
- Mexico: $3.2 billion (3%)
New York’s top trade partners in North America, namely Canada and Mexico, account for over one-fifth (21.5%) of the overall value of exported goods from the Empire State.
This falls below the 30.6% share for the European countries listed above (Switzerland, UK and Germany).
Asian countries among the top 10 customers (Hong Kong, India, Israel, Singapore and mainland China) generated 21.1% worth of New York’s total export sales.
New York Export Companies
Forty-five of corporations headquartered in New York state rank among Forbes Global 2000 for 2021. Selected examples are shown below.
- Arconic (aluminum, titanium, nickel)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (pharmaceuticals)
- Colgate-Palmolive (household products, personal care, pet food)
- Estée Lauder Companies (makeup, skin care, hair care, fragrances)
- L3 Technologies (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance systems)
- Pfizer Inc (pharmaceuticals)
- Philip Morris International (cigarettes, other tobacco products)
- PVH (branded clothing)
- Ralph Lauren Corp (clothing, footwear, fragrances, housewares, jewelry)
- Verizon Communications (telecommunications)
Shown within brackets for each company is a summary of the international trade-related products which each business sells.
New York’s capital is Albany, a city nicknamed “Cradle of the Union” or the “518 Cap City” where 518 refers to Albany’s telephone area code.
See also Utah’s Top 10 Exports, California’s Top 10 Exports, Top 10 Exports from Texas and Maine’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Department of Numbers, New York GDP (dollars shown in real terms). Accessed on April 27, 2023
FlagPictures.org, Flags of US States. Accessed on April 27, 2023
Forbes 2019 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 27, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 27, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 27, 2023
New York Business Journal, JPMorgan Chase leads the list of 45 New York companies on the new Fortune 500 ranking. Accessed on April 27, 2023
Statista, Real gross domestic product of New York. Accessed on April 27, 2023
United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts: New York, United States. Accessed on April 27, 2023
USA Trade Online, Official Source of Trade Statistics. Accessed on April 27, 2023
Wikipedia, List of New York Companies. Accessed on April 27, 2023
Wikipedia, List of U.S. states and territories by GDP. Accessed on April 27, 2023
Wikipedia, New York (state). Accessed on April 27, 2023
World’s Capital Cities, Capital Facts for Albany, United States. Accessed on April 27, 2023
YCharts, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Report. Accessed on April 27, 2023