North Carolina Exports $3.3 Billion of High-Tech Goods in 2006
North Carolina’s High Tech Exports Decline Slightly from 2005

Alpharetta, GA (July 17, 2007) – AeA, the nation’s largest technology trade association with 2,500 member companies representing all segments of the high-tech industry, today released a special trade report detailing national and state trends in the international trade of high-tech goods.  The report, Trade in the Cyberstates 2007: A State-by-State Overview of High-Tech International Trade, covers all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.                       

High-tech exports from North Carolina were $3.3 billion in 2006, a decrease of $276 million from 2005.  Exports from the tech industry comprise approximately 16 percent of North Carolina’s total exports.

“The high-tech industry is a critical component of North Carolina’s economy,” said Tom Rabon, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Red Hat.  “With thousands of jobs in our state being directly linked to tech exports, it is of crucial importance that our policymakers focus on expanding trade and opening foreign markets so that we can continue to sell our products.”

Nationally, Trade in the Cyberstates 2007 shows that international trade of high-tech goods continues to rise.  High-tech goods exports grew by 10 percent for a total of $220 billion in 2006, representing 21 percent of all U.S. exports to the world.  High-tech imports totaled $322 billion in 2006, up by 9 percent, resulting in a tech trade deficit of $102 billion.  Nationwide, tech exports directly supported 683,900 jobs in the United States.

Trade in the Cyberstates 2007 provides a comprehensive review of international trade of high-tech goods at the national and state-by-state level.  The report provides 52 state overview pages highlighting high-tech exports with detailed data on historical export trends, exports by individual tech sector, and leading export destinations by country.

This report is a partner publication to AeA's annual flagship publication, Cyberstates, which provides national and state-by-state data on high-tech jobs, wages, payroll, and other factors.  In the past, the high-tech trade data was included in the Cyberstates report.  This new report provides a tremendous amount of detailed data that was not previously published.  Like Cyberstates, Trade in the Cyberstates uses official government statistics and is not survey data.

AeA members can purchase Trade in the Cyberstates 2007 for $125; non-members for $250.  Visit www.aeanet.org/trade to download the report, or call 408.987.4200.

What Does High-Tech Trade Mean for North Carolina? 

• $3.3 billion in high-tech exports (15^th  ranked cyberstate)
   
• Down $276 million in tech exports between 2005 and 2006
   
• 16 percent of exports from North Carolina are tech exports (ranked 23^rd)
   
• 14,600 jobs in North Carolina are directly supported by tech exports

North Carolina’s Leading Tech Export Destinations:

• $756 million in tech exports to Canada
   
• $289 million in tech exports to China
   
• $253 million in tech exports to the United Kingdom

North Carolina’s Leading Tech Export Sectors:

• 10^th in communications equipment exports at $581 million
   
• 13^th in semiconductor exports at $783 million
   
• 15^th in computers and peripheral equipment exports at $693 million

Source: Trade in the Cyberstates 2007

Data are for 2006.

Published by AeA, Advancing the Business of Technology (www.aeanet.org)

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This page was last updated on 07/18/07.  
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