Georgia Sets International Trade Record for Second Straight Year

The state of Georgia posted a second-straight record year for international trade in 2022, including a new high for exports to other countries.

Total trade last year topped $196 billion, an increase of 18% compared to 2021, and the bulk of that was via imports. But Georgia products sold overseas totaled $47 billion, an 11% increase from 2021.

“For the second year in a row, Georgia has shattered international trade records,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in a news release. “I’m proud that 85 percent of exporters were small businesses, reaching from the Port of Savannah to the North Georgia mountains and everywhere in between.”

Aerospace products were Georgia’s top export, totaling $9.2 billion last year, the state said. Georgia is the home of a Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta and Gulfstream along the coast. Agricultural and forestry exports grew 21% last year to nearly $5.8 billion, while automotive exports totaled $4.1 billion, a decline from a year earlier amid challenges in global automotive supply chains.

Georgia is a hub for global trade, thanks in part to its diverse economic core of agriculture and large and small businesses. Trade also flows across its infrastructure of deep-water ports in Savannah and Brunswick, the world’s busiest airport in Hartsfield-Jackson International and an extensive highway and rail network.

https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-sets-international-trade-record-for-second-straight-year/5HUBYNN7GZB65C5T7ZNTYJOPUU/