Colorado’s central location within the U.S., its supportive business climate and highly trained workforce, and the broad array of local products make exports an ideal path to economic growth. Colorado businesses currently export over $10.4 billion worth of goods annually. Overall, Colorado’s international engagement supports more than 820,000 jobs in the state.

• In Colorado, 820,200 jobs were supported by international trade in 2019, representing 20.8% of all jobs in the state.^1,2
• In 2020, 5,729 companies exported goods from Colorado of which 88% were small- and medium-sized enterprises. In 2018, 123,200 people were employed by affiliates of companies at least 50% foreign-owned.^3,4

• Colorado exported $10.4 billion in goods to foreign markets in 2023, a 1% increase compared to 2022. Colorado’s largest markets were:⁵
  • Canada ($1.9 billion)
  • Mexico ($1.6 billion)
  • China ($896.1 million)
  • South Korea ($733.7 million)
  • Switzerland ($713.1 million)
• Agricultural exports are important to Colorado's' economy, totaling $2.2 billion in 2020, according to the USDA.⁶
• Since 2014, the U.S. Export-Import Bank has financed $770 million in exports from 75 companies in Colorado.⁷
• Since 1992, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency has helped facilitate $152 million in exports from Colorado companies.⁹

• During 2020, 9,920 international students were enrolled in Colorado colleges and universities and contributed $359 million to the Colorado economy.¹⁰

• Since 1961, 7,615 Peace Corps volunteers from Colorado have served in dozens of countries overseas.¹¹

1. https://tradepartnership.com/reports/trade-and-american-jobs-the-impact-of-trade-on-u-s-and-state-level-employment-update-2020/
2. https://www.businessroundtable.org/policy-perspectives/trade-international/benefits-of-trade-data
3. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/edb/2019/index.html
4. https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/imne1120.pdf
5. https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/state-economy-and-trade-factsheets
6. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets.aspx#.U2ERwbQzqX8
7. https://www.exim.gov/customer-map/
8. https://www.opic.gov/sites/default/files/docs/OPIC_local_impact.pdf
9. https://ustda.gov/ustda-success-by-state/
10. https://opendoorsdata.org/fact_sheets/
11. https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-announces-top-volunteer-producing-states-2018/