Top US Exports 2022 & 2023 (2024)

In 2022, the United States shipped $2.061 trillion worth of products around the globe. That dollar amount reflects a 23.8% increase from $1.666 trillion in 2018.

Year over year, the overall value of goods exported from the U.S. gained 17.6% compared to $1.754 trillion for 2021.

During the first 9 months of 2023, the United States of America exported $1.508 trillion worth of goods via international markets. The resulting $2.01 trillion full-year projection suggests that the U.S. is on track for a -2.5% year-over-year decline in 2023 compared to 2022.

Please note that the rest of this article focuses on statistics for the full year of 2022.

America’s 5 biggest export products by value in 2021 were refined petroleum oils, crude oil, petroleum gases, cars and electronic integrated circuits. In aggregate, those major exported goods accounted for 22.2% of overall exports sold by the United States. That percentage suggests a diversified range of exported goods, albeit 3 of America’s top exports are energy commodities.

The United States ranks among world-leading nations for exporting refined petroleum oils, petroleum gases and cars.

The latest available country-specific data shows that 68% of products exported from the US were bought by importers in: Canada (17.2% of the global total), Mexico (15.7%), mainland China (7.5%), Japan (3.9%), United Kingdom (3.7%), Germany (3.5%), Netherlands (3.5%), South Korea (also 3.5%), Brazil (2.6%), India (2.3%), France (also 2.3%) and Singapore (2.2%).

From a continental perspective, 33% of exports from the United States by value was delivered to its fellow North American trade partners Canada and Mexico. A smaller 30% was sold to Asian importers with another 23% worth of goods going to Europe.

Smaller percentages went to Latin America (10.8%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania (1.7%) led by Australia and New Zealand, then Africa (1.5%).

Given America’s population of 330 million people at October 2022, its total $2.061 trillion in revenues from exports in 2022 translates to roughly $6,200 for every U.S. resident. That metric compares with an average $5,300 for 2021.

America’s top 10 exports equal 70.4% of the overall value of U.S. global shipments.

Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories year over year, up by 57.5% since 2021.

In second place for improving export sales was the organic chemicals category which rose 18.5%.

United States’ shipments of aircraft and spacecraft posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 14.9% year over year.

The most modest gain among America’s top 10 export categories was electrical machinery and equipment which improved 6.4%.

Note that the results listed above are at the categorized two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. For a more granular view of exported goods at the four-digit HTS code level, see the section Searchable List of America’s Most Valuable Export Products further down near the bottom of this article.

Calculated based on the overall $2.061 trillion worth of products shipped from the United States in 2022, food exports amounted to a subtotal $160.1 billion or 7.8% of US exported goods. That percentage is below the 8.4% for American global food shipments one year earlier.

The most valuable food category for American shippers was oil seeds, representing 25.1% of US international food sales. The oil seeds product category is led by US exports of soya beans.

In second place were exports of cereals equaling 19.7% of US food exports by value. The most valuable cereals exported from America are corn, wheat, grain sorghum and rice.

The other leading export product categories are meat (14.6% of total US exports) particularly beef, pork and chicken, then the fruits and nuts category (9.2%) including nuts and berries, apples and grapes.

Other leading US exported food categories are miscellaneous food preparations (6.5%), dairy, eggs and honey (4.9%), vegetable, fruit or nut preparations (3.4%), fish (3.2%), vegetables (3.1%), then cereal or milk preparations (3%).

The following types of American product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

The U.S. incurred a -$1.313 trillion trade deficit for 2022, swelling by 11.2% from the -$1.181 trillion in red ink for all products one year earlier in 2021.

Below are product categories from the United States that are negative net exports or product trade balance deficits for 2021. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on American goods trail U.S. importer spending on foreign products.

United States has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for electronics-related equipment, notably consumer electronics.

The resulting cashflow deficiency clearly exemplifies U.S. competitive disadvantages in the international electronics market, but also represents a key opportunity for United States to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations and creative employment initiatives in the homeland.