Who Are the Owners of Exporting Firms?

New data on the number of exporting firms, the value of exports, and export destinations is now available as part of a recently released Census product.

Detailed business owner demographics for exporting companies are also included in the new data from the Annual Business Survey (ABS) program.

Matching export transactions to business demographics through a rich collection of Census data, the product provides a unique window into the U.S. exporting industry and company owners.

For example, combined data show how many matched exporting firms were owned by women, veterans and minorities, as well as total value of exported goods.

The ABS data element matches export transactions to business demographics by combining data from the Annual Business Survey and Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies.

The ABS provides the demographics information and the profile the exporting status and value. The latest info includes 2017 and 2018 data.

All trade data are collected and compiled by US Customs and Border Protection (or CBP), then sent to Census for further editing and release.

The full export data also include a special set of trade data for exports to Canada via a data exchange.

The table below shows some data from the exporting firms that were identified by either the ABS or the U.S. Profile of Importing and Exporting Companies.

This data table shows the total export value was an estimated $1,546 billion in 2017, and $1,666 billion in 2018.

Identified exporters matched to the ABS sample (weighted) included an estimated total of 179,000 firms in 2017, and 178,000 firms in 2018. The Export Value of these ABS-identified exporters matched to the ABS sample (weighted) was an estimated $1,227 billion in 2017, and $1,270 billion in 2018.

Based on the export value, the majority of exports are represented in the match to firms in the ABS.

A firm, or company, is a business consisting of one or more domestic establishments under its ownership or control.

In 2017, there were an estimated 179,000 U.S. exporting firms and 5,556,000 nonexporting firms. In 2018, there were an estimated 178,000 exporting firms and 5,544,000 nonexporting firms.

The last report on this data included a trove of business demographics, in addition to these totals.

For example, the chart below shows us the matched veteran-owned exporting firms by receipts size for data years 2017 and 2018.

In addition to veteran-owned status, the report includes detailed information on women-owned exporting firms by employment size.

In 2017, an estimated 11,500 of the estimated 22,000 matched women-owned exporting firms had fewer than 10 employees. In 2018, an estimated 12,300 of the estimated 23,500 matched women-owned exporting firms had fewer than 10 employees.

The product also provided a window into the demographics of export firm owners. The graphic below shows that approximately 88.7% of matched exporters were White-owned firms, and an estimated 10.2% were Asian-owned in 2018.

Adam Grundy is a supervisory statistician in the Census Bureau’s Economic Management Division.