That dollar amount reflects a -14.8% year-over-year decline from $3.5 billion in 2022.
Over a 3-year timeline, the overall value of Maine’s exports rose 25.3% compared to $2.36 billion during 2020.
Maine ranks 47th near the bottom of America’s 50 biggest exporters by state, and far behind front-runners including Texas, California, Louisiana, New York state, and Illinois.
The value of Maine’s exports equals 0.1% of United States’ overall exported products.
Maine’s exported products represent 4.5% of the state’s total economic output or Gross Domestic Product in 2023 ($65.5 billion). That percentage is much lower than the 5.45% share for 2022.
The most valuable products shipped from Maine are civilian aircraft including engines or other aircraft parts, fresh or chilled lobsters, and miscellaneous electronic integrated circuits. Collectively, those leading product categories generated over one-quarter (28.3%) of Maine’s overall export sales during 2023..
Given Maine’s population of 1.41 million people, its total $2.95 billion in 2023 exports translates to about $2,100 for every resident in the Pine Tree State. That dollar metric lags the average $2,500 per capita one year earlier for 2022.
Maine’s unemployment rate was 3.4% in February 2023, up from 2.4% one year earlier per YCharts.
Maine’s Top 10 Exports
The following export products represent the highest dollar value in Maine global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Maine.
Figures are shown at the more granular six-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, for more precise product identification.
- Civilian aircraft including engines, other parts: US$371.4 million (12.6% of Maine’s total exports)
- Fresh/chilled lobsters: $284.9 million (9.7%)
- Miscellaneous electronic integrated circuits: $179.7 million (6.1%)
- Natural gas (gaseous state): $178.2 million (6%)
- Diagnostic or laboratory reagents: $145.5 million (4.9%)
- Fir and spruce rough wood: $71.9 million (2.4%)
- Plastics-coated paper, paperboard: $64.9 million (2.2%)
- Paper, paperboard for writing, printing and graphics: $63.4 million 2.1%)
- Fresh/chilled Atlantic or Danube salmon: $55.3 million (1.9%)
- Instruments using optical radiations: $47.6 million (1.6%)
Maine’s top 10 exports generated almost half (49.6%) of the overall value of the state’s global shipments.
The fastest grower among Maine’s leading export product categories is diagnostic or laboratory reagents via a 86.6% advance from 2022.
In second place were Maine’s exports of civilian aircraft either fully assembled or engines or other aircraft parts (up 11.5%).
The remaining increase was the 2.4% improvement for exported miscellaneous electronic integrated circuits.
The severest product decliners from 2022 to 2023 were for natural gas in gaseous state (down -64.6%) and Maine’s signature fresh or chilled lobsters (down -47.9%).
More Key Facts about Maine’s International Trade
Maine incurred an overall -US$4.36 billion deficit exporting and importing products during 2023. That dollar amount reflects an -8% year-over-year decrease from -$4.73 billion in red ink for 2022.
Another way of saying surplus or deficit is positive or negative net exports. In a nutshell, the term “net exports” quantifies the amount by which foreign spending on a state’s goods or services exceeds or lags that same state’s spending on foreign goods or services.
In total, importers in Maine spent $7.31 billion on goods supplied by providers outside the United States.
Below are Maine’s top 10 import products highlighting the state’s highest spending on foreign-made goods in 2023.
- Light petroleum oils excluding biodiesel: US$1.59 billion (21.8% of Maine’s total imports)
- Refined petroleum oils excluding biodiesel: $1.3 billion (17.5%)
- Electrical energy: $390.1 million (5.3%)
- Larger aircraft: $132.9 million (1.82%)
- Chemical woodpulp sulfite (coniferous): $132.1 million (1.81%)
- Turbo-jets, parts: $127.6 million (1.75%)
- Sawn coniferous wood: $120.9 million (1.65%)
- Liquefied Propane: $119.4 million (1.63%)
- Fresh/chilled lobsters: $117.7 million (1.61%)
- Atlantic or Danube fresh/chilled salmon: $116.3 million (1.6%)
Maine has negative net exports in the international trade of petroleum products and electrical energy–importing much of its electrical power from Canada. In turn, these cashflows indicate Maine’s competitive disadvantages under those product categories.
Maine’s Top Trading Partners
The following list shows the top 10 customers that purchased about three-quarters (74.7%) worth of the total value of products exported from Maine during 2023.
- Canada: US$1.43 billion (48.4% of Maine’s total exports)
- Malaysia: $131.7 million (4.5%)
- mainland China: $123.2 million (4.2%)
- Mexico: $100.3 million (3.4%)
- Japan: $90.6 million (3.1%)
- Netherlands: $81 million (2.7%)
- Germany: $73.5 million (2.5%)
- South Korea: $67.4 million (2.3%)
- Singapore: $56.3 million (1.9%)
- United Kingdom: $53.4 million (1.8%)
Maine’s top trade partners in North America–mostly Canada but also Mexico–bought over half (51.8%) of the overall value of exported goods from the Pine Tree State.
In contrast, leading importers in Asia (mainland China, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore) accounted for 15.9% of Maine’s export sales in 2023.
Leading customers in Europe (Netherlands, Germany and the UK) paid for 7% of Maine total exports.
Maine Export Companies
Not one Maine-based corporation ranks among Fortune 1000 Companies, a list that showcases America’s largest businesses.
According to Zippia, below are examples of relatively large companies based in Maine.
- LL Bean (clothing, shoes, outdoor gear)
- IDEXX Laboratories (animal health diagnostic goods, services)
- Ahlstrom-Munksjö (fiber-based source materials)
- WEX Inc. (payment processing, info technology)
- Cherryfield Foods (canned fruits, vegetables)
Shown within brackets for each company is a summary of the international trade-related products or services which each business sells.
Maine’s capital is Augusta, a city named after Augusta Dearborn who was the daughter of America’s Revolutionary War soldier and statesman Henry Dearborn.
See also Florida’s Top 10 Exports, California’s Top 10 Exports, Top 10 Exports from Texas and Hawaii’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
FlagPictures.org, Flags of US States. Accessed on April 3, 2024
Forbes, 2020 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 3, 2024
GeoLounge, Fortune 1000 Companies List for 2020 , Fortune 1000 by State and Place. Accessed on April 3, 2024
IBIS World, State Economic Profile (including GDP). Accessed on April 3, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 3, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 3, 2024
State Symbols USA, State Nicknames. Accessed on April 3, 2024
United States Census Bureau, Foreign Trade (State by 6-Digit HS Code). Accessed on April 3, 2024
United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Maine. Accessed on April 3, 2024
USA Trade Online, Official Source of Trade Statistics. Accessed on April 3, 2024
Wikipedia, Category:Companies based in Maine. Accessed on April 3, 2024
Wikipedia, List of U.S. states and territories by GDP. Accessed on April 3, 2024
Wikipedia, Maine. Accessed on April 3, 2024
YCharts, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Report. Accessed on April 3, 2024
Zippia, These are the 100 largest companies in Maine. Accessed on April 3, 2024