Massachusetts Exports Billions of Dollars Worth of This Annually

Massachusetts fishermen catch oodles of fish yearly, much of which is hauled in by the New Bedford-based fishing fleet. The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries says the fishing industry's catch for 2022 was worth $670 million. Much of the seafood is sold to out-of-state buyers.

Fish is not the Commonwealth's top export, however.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says, "Massachusetts 2022 cranberry production totaled 2.26 million barrels in 2022, up 3.1% from 2021's production."

Cranberries are not the Bay State's leading export either.

If seafood and cranberries are not the state's top export, what is?

According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, "In 2023, chemicals were Massachusetts' largest manufacturing category, accounting for $10.6 billion of the state's total exports."

The Observatory of Economic Complexity says, "Massachusetts exports a variety of chemicals, including photographic chemicals, precious metal compounds, metal pickling preparations, silicone, and polymer ion exchangers."

Massachusetts also exports tanning and dying extracts, dyes, pigments, paints, putty and inks, among other things.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative says, "Massachusetts exports of manufactured products supported an estimated 103 thousand jobs in 2023 (latest data available.)"

The Trade Office says, "Other top manufacturing exports are computer and electronic products ($6.4 billion), machinery, except electrical ($5.7 billion), miscellaneous manufactured commodities ($3.3 billion), and electrical equipment, appliances and components ($2.1 billion)."

Massachusetts' largest export market was Belgium. That nation imported $4.9 billion in Massachusetts-made products in 2023. China purchased $3.3 billion in Massachusetts goods, followed by Canada ($3.3 billion), Mexico ($2.7 billion) and Germany ($2.3 billion).