U.S. Exports Would Rank #8 for Largest Economy
Submitted by CARPE DIEM
In 2008, the U.S. exported $1.276 trillion (or $1,276 billion, BEA data here) of manufactured goods to the rest of the world including food products ($89 billion), industrial supplies and materials ($780 billion), capital goods ($454 billion), automotive vehicles and parts ($234 billion), and consumer goods ($482 billion). If the value of U.S. exports ($1.276 trillion) in 2008 were considered as a separate country, it would have been the 12th largest country in the world, larger than the entire GDP of either India ($1.2 trillion, IMF data here) or Mexico ($1.1 trillion), and just slightly smaller than the entire GDP of Brazil ($1.57 trillion) and Canada ($1.5 trillion).
If we add services and consider the total value of U.S. exports ($1.826 trillion), it would have been the 8th largest economy in the world for 2008, larger than the GDP of either Russia ($1.7 trillion) or Spain ($1.6 trillion), and ranking right behind the GDP of the U.K. ($2.7 trillion) and Italy ($2.3 trillion).
See related Enterprise post “Manufacturing’s Death Greatly Exaggerated.” Also note that U.S. exports dropped by about 15% in 2009, and imports by 23%, both due to the global slowdown.
