Alabama’s 2021 exports increased more than 21.8% over pre-pandemic levels in 2020, Gov. Kay Ivey said Wednesday.
“We are very pleased to see that our optimism at this time a year ago was well-founded,” Ivey said. “Alabama’s export numbers in 2021 exceeded those of 2019. This is a promising sign that demand for Alabama-made goods and services remains strong and that Alabama has an integral role to play in the worldwide recovery.”
In 2021, Alabama businesses exported to 189 countries. The top five destinations were Germany ($3.7 billion in exports), Canada ($3.4 billion), China ($3.2 billion), Mexico ($2.5 billion) and South Korea ($922 million). Others in the top 10 were Japan, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Australia and Brazil.
Top export categories included transportation equipment ($10.4 billion), chemicals ($2.3 billion), forest products ($1.5 billion), primary metals manufacturing ($1.3 billion) and non-electrical machinery ($1.1 billion).
Exports to Germany in particular showed substantial growth during 2021. One of the main drivers powering that increase was Alabama-made motor vehicles, which increased 91% to reach $2.8 billion. Other notable upticks occurred in exports of minerals and ores (388%), chemicals (54%), paper (103%) and fabricated metal products (187%).
Alabama ranked No. 24 among the states in export volume for 2021, moving up a spot from No. 25 in 2020.
