Ag’s Share of Total Export Value Hits New High

It’s time for your Southeast Regional Ag News, I’m Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.

The total value of all U.S. exports has grown at an average annual rate of six percent since 2002, reaching a record high of $1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2021. But this is ALL exports…not just ag products that we’re sending elsewhere. What’s that picture look like?

Well, agriculture’s share of total U.S. exports has steadily increased between fiscal years 2002 and 2021.

Ever heard the saying that your biggest competitor is looking at you in the mirror? If that’s the case for agricultural exports, they decided to amp it up against themselves last year. In 2021, ag exports accounted for 12 percent of the total value, up from nine percent in 2002.

Growth in agricultural exports has largely been resilient to market shocks like COVID-19. Even as total U.S. exports fell by 12 percent during the onset of COVID in 2020, ag exports remained steady on the strength of surging shipments of soybeans, corn, and pork to China. Ag exports surged 23 percent to $172 billion in 2021. The export forecast is a record $196 billion in 2022.