Idaho’s economy depends heavily on international markets for the goods and services it produces. The impact of international trade is visible in the state’s growing network of foreign trade partners, rising export volumes and the associated gains in jobs and wages. Tracking these trends helps illustrate how global trade markets influence Idaho’s economy.
Idaho’s international trade partners
As of 2024, Idaho exports to 205 nations. However, the majority of Idaho’s goods and services are sold only to a select few nations, as shown in Figure 1. Canada has been the state’s largest importer at $13.4 billion in sales revenue since 2014, averaging $1.2 billion annually.
Other key nations that import directly from Idaho included Taiwan, Mexico, Singapore, Japan, China, Malaysia, South Korea, the Netherlands and Brazil. Since 2014, these nations have accounted for 82% of the state’s foreign sales revenue.1
Figure 1. Top nations importing from Idaho
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, International Trade Administration of U.S. Department of Commerce
Idaho’s GDP and exports
International exports, as a share of Idaho’s gross domestic product (GDP), have leveled off since 2021 as state GDP has outpaced export growth.
Between 2015-2024, Idaho’s GDP increased by 48.7%, averaging 4% annually. Despite the share of exports out of total GDP fluctuating during this time — peaking at 8.2% in 2021 due to strong global demand for technology, manufacturing and agricultural-related exports1 — it ultimately declined from 7.4% to 6.7%, as charted in Figure 2.2 A similar trend was seen nationally, as the export share of GDP fell from 12.4% in 2015 to 10.9% in 2024.3
Figure 2. Idaho export share of GDP
Source: U.S. Census Bureau-USA Trade, Bureau of Economic Analysis
Idaho’s 7.4% share of exports out of total GDP placed the state 38th in the nation for total export value. By 2024, Idaho dropped to 43rd nationally.2
Economic impact
Despite experiencing a decrease in total export value since 2015, Idaho’s export of goods and services supported approximately 33,000 jobs in 2023 — 4% of the state’s total employment — with 1,625 companies exporting outside the U.S., according to the International Trade Administration.4
Export-supported employment
In 2023, Idaho’s economy gained an average value of $156,000 from each job supported by services exports and $153,000 from each job supported by goods exports, as shown in Figure 3. These values were determined by dividing the current dollar value of the type of export and its employment.
As a comparison, average value added to the economy per all jobs combined in 2023 was $11,600, which was determined by taking the state’s total GDP and dividing it by total employment. This shows Idaho’s export-supported jobs added at least $141,000 in additional value to the state’s economy when compared with the value of all jobs combined.2, 4, 5
Figure 3. Average value added per job, Idaho, 2023
Source: International Trade Administration of U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Idaho Department of Labor Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
Jobs supported by exports are valuable to Idaho’s economy due to generally higher wages paid to employees versus other industries. Particularly in the past five years, Idaho’s export industries have put a higher premium on worker pay than the state’s overall average annual wages, as seen in Figure 4’s charting of the wage differential. In 2023, Idaho’s average annual wages were $58,900 in export industries, compared with $56,300 for all industries.5
However, Idaho’s goods and services exports experienced a 5% (about $700 million) decrease from 2022 to 2023, falling to $13.7 billion. This change is also reflected in Figure 4 with the year-over-year decline in average annual wage differential.
Figure 4. Average annual wage differential, Idaho export industries vs. all industries
Source: Idaho Department of Labor Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
Idaho’s top export industries
In 2023, there were at least 30 distinct Idaho industry sectors that sold goods and services to foreign markets, as shown in Figure 5. Seven of Idaho’s 10 largest exporting industries involved manufacturing. More than 81% of Idaho’s total export sales in 2023 were generated by manufacturing in processed food, chemicals, electronics and other finished products.
The only non-manufacturing industries in the top 10 were raw agricultural products with 7% of foreign sales and professional, scientific and technical services with 2%.4
Figure 5. Goods and services exported to the world from Idaho, 2023
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Census Bureau, International Trade Administration of U.S. Department of Commerce.
Idaho continues to expand its international trade presence. By diversifying both its trade partners and export products, the state is strengthening its resilience to economic fluctuations, while building a strong foundation for future job and wage growth.
Ryan.Whitesides@labor.idaho.gov, labor economist
Idaho Department of Labor
208-696-2347
Sources:
1 “Idaho Exports and Foreign Investment,” Office of the United States Trade Representative, accessed September 2025, https://ustr.gov/map/state-benefits/id.
2 “USA Trade, 2024,” U.S. Census Bureau, accessed September 2025, https://usatrade.census.gov/data/Perspective60/Dim/dimension.aspx.
3 “World Bank Open Data, 2025,” World Bank Group, accessed September 2025, https://data.worldbank.org/.
4 “TradeStats Express – State Trade by Partners, 2024,” International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, accessed September 2025, https://www.trade.gov/data-visualization/tradestats-express-state-trade-partners.
5 “Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2023,” Idaho Department of Labor, accessed September 2025, internal SQL database.
This Idaho Department of Labor project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for SFY26 as part of a Workforce Information grant (41%) and state/nonfederal funds (59%) totaling $860,595.
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