PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island exporters shipped 10.8 percent more goods in 2014 compared with 2013, beating the national average of 2.7 percent, according to the latest report by e-forecasting.com.
As a result, the Ocean State landed at No. 8 among all 50 states for export growth in 2014. Hawaii was first with a 142.8 percent increase, and Utah last, with a 23.6 percent decline.
In December alone, foreign sales from Rhode Island’s exporting companies fell 0.8 percent to $213.1 million compared with the month before. But when compared with December 2013, the sales grew nearly 20 percent.
E-forecasting said the latest state export numbers reflect a mix of different economic conditions in the countries of Rhode Island’s foreign buyers. Exports of manufactured goods accounted for 70 percent of all sales abroad in December, with foreign sales from the state’s factories increasing in December by 31.2 percent from the previous month to $149 million. Numbers are adjusted for seasonality.
Exports of nonmanufactured goods dropped 36.7 percent in December to $64.1 million from the previous month. These goods include agricultural goods, mining products and re-exports – foreign goods that entered the state as imports and are exported in substantially the same condition as when imported.
Worldwide merchandise exports rose 1.3 percent to all-time high of $17 trillion in 2014 compared with 2013. In 2014, U.S. exports increased 2.7 percent compared with 2013.
