Sunday Night Highlight – Louisiana Is The #1 Exporting State In The USA

As a percentage of GDP, no other state in the nation comes close to Louisiana for exports – sending products around the country and around the world that will keep people warm, fed, and safe as we begin the holiday season.  Louisiana’s $122 billion in exports in 2022— more than double the $56 billion in 2017 — gives the state a 43% export-share-of-GDP ratio when matched against its $281 billion GDP.  This is twice the 21% ratio of second-place Texas. The boom reflects the growth of U.S. energy exports that are centered around Louisiana’s three specially designed liquefied natural gas export terminals, which are allowing Europe to move away from Russian gas, and Asia to switch from coal.

Thinking of Thanksgiving, Louisiana is the nation’s largest handler of grain; more than 40% of the country’s grain exports move through the ports of the Pelican State. The most valuable crop is soybeans, followed by cotton and sugarcane. Louisiana is among the top ten states in production of sugar cane, sweet potatoes, rice, cotton, and pecans. As for “specialty” commodities, the state ranks number one in the nation for production of crawfish, shrimp, alligators, and oysters.

The top five exports from Louisiana in 2022 were (source – Census Bureau):

#1. Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes

– Total value of 2022 exports: $71.38 billion

#2. Oil seeds; miscellaneous grain, seed, fruit, plants, etc.

– Total value of 2022 exports: $16.76 billion

#3. Cereals

– Total value of 2022 exports: $11.67 billion

#4. Organic chemicals

– Total value of 2022 exports: $4.95 billion

#5. Food industry residues; prepared animal feed

– Total value of 2022 exports: $3.56 billion

You can read more about Louisiana’s status as “King of Exporters” here and here.

You can learn how to make a turducken here.