Florida is a global business hub because of its location at the commercial crossroads of the Americas, as well as its well-developed port infrastructure, and multilingual workforce. Florida’s attractive business climate helped it export over $67 billion in goods in 2022, which helped support nearly 2.8 million jobs in the state.

Job Creation

  • In Florida, 2,770,200 jobs were supported by international trade in 2019, representing 21.5% of all jobs in the state.1,2
  • In 2020, 54,553 companies exported goods from Florida of which 95% were small- and medium-sized enterprises. In 2018, 353,800 people were employed by affiliates of companies at least 50% foreign-owned.3,4

Exports and Growth

  • Florida exported $55.5 billion in goods to foreign markets in 2021, an 21% increase compared to 2020 driven by continued economic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy.5
    • Brazil ($5.6 billion)
    • Canada ($5.3 billion)
    • Mexico ($4.0 billion)
    • United Kingdom ($3.9 billion)
    • Colombia ($2.7 billion)
  • Agricultural exports are important to Florida's' economy, totaling $3.6 billion in 2020, according to the USDA.6
  • Since 2014, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed $7 billion in exports from 573 companies in Florida.7
  • Since 1992, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency has helped facilitate $574 million in exports from Florida companies.9

Education and Research

  • During 2020, 39,622 international students were enrolled in Florida colleges and universities and contributed $1.2 billion to the Florida economy.10

Global Engagement

  • Since 1961, 8,548 Peace Corps volunteers from Florida have served in dozens of countries overseas.11