Minnesota businesses exported 21 billion dollars worth of agricultural, mining and manufactured products in 2017, an eight percent jump over 2016. Shane Delaney with the Department of Employment and Economic Development says higher export numbers are a welcome boost for a large sector of the state’s economy with about 118,000 jobs in Minnesota attributed to the export economy.
Delaney says a 10 percent increase in exports to Asian markets helped fuel the growth, while Mexico and Canada remained the top two export destinations. Delany added it is still too early to tell if the jump in 2017 will carry over to export numbers in 2018.
In all Minnesota exported more than one thousand products to over 200 countries.
The full interview with DEED’s Shane Delaney: