WorldCity, Georgia cracks Top 10 for first time in modern era, slips past Buffalo | Connecting Local Business Leaders To The Global Economy

Georgia cracks Top 10 for first time in modern era, slips past Buffalo

February 13th, 2007

The state of Georgia is now the nation’s 10th-ranked Customs district, according to WorldCity analysis of annual U.S. Census data released today.

It marks the first time the Savannah Customs district, as it is commonly called, has landed in the Top 10 in the modern era of international trade, since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of China to freer markets.

The Customs district is led by the Port of Savannah, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and the Port of Brunswick.

Georgia slipped past Buffalo by a slender $226 million in the last month of the year, ending 2006 at $82.5 billion. Three years ago, the state ranked No. 13. It has also sped ahead of Cleveland and Miami.

2006	2005	Total Trade	2006	2005	1-Yr $ Ch	1 Yr % ch
		World Total	$82,472,671,175	$72,545,576,486	$9,927,094,689	13.68%
1	1	China	$15,668,226,275	$12,133,533,838	$3,534,692,437	29.13%
2	2	Japan	$8,258,829,939	$7,899,855,057	$358,974,882	4.54%
3	3	Germany	$7,073,950,580	$6,407,194,975	$666,755,605	10.41%
4	4	South Korea	$4,354,505,764	$4,148,361,367	$206,144,397	4.97%
5	5	United Kingdom	$4,195,559,942	$3,921,118,754	$274,441,188	7.00%
6	7	Ireland	$3,328,905,591	$2,423,586,989	$905,318,602	37.35%
7	9	Australia	$2,630,671,369	$2,167,187,654	$463,483,715	21.39%
8	10	Italy	$2,432,852,948	$2,163,671,787	$269,181,161	12.44%
9	6	Malaysia	$2,384,768,225	$3,300,822,779	$(916,054,554)	-27.75%
10	11	Taiwan	$2,373,386,170	$2,030,952,264	$342,433,906	16.86%
11	13	Singapore	$2,153,071,451	$1,544,087,578	$608,983,873	39.44%
12	8	Netherlands	$1,984,226,693	$2,330,504,767	$(346,278,074)	-14.86%
13	12	France	$1,907,581,241	$1,595,096,213	$312,485,028	19.59%
14	14	Belgium	$1,419,723,220	$1,324,918,938	$94,804,282	7.16%
15	15	Thailand	$1,395,095,168	$1,257,075,038	$138,020,130	10.98%
16	21	Brazil	$1,169,080,196	$909,425,412	$259,654,784	28.55%
17	18	Indonesia	$1,148,201,428	$1,018,179,475	$130,021,953	12.77%
18	20	Spain	$1,075,017,913	$926,633,123	$148,384,790	16.01%
19	16	Sweden	$1,074,635,221	$1,188,043,345	$(113,408,124)	-9.55%
20	17	Trinidad and Tobago	$994,138,569	$1,135,079,947	$(140,941,378)	-12.42%
21	19	Hong Kong	$969,511,696	$935,862,370	$33,649,326	3.60%
22	22	India	$870,447,926	$685,097,907	$185,350,019	27.05%
23	25	Israel	$771,672,859	$568,772,305	$202,900,554	35.67%
24	24	Switzerland	$760,885,072	$575,944,537	$184,940,535	32.11%
25	27	Turkey	$757,935,799	$497,609,632	$260,326,167	52.32%
26	26	Mexico	$667,333,721	$500,569,274	$166,764,447	33.31%
27	23	Venezuela	$644,515,859	$631,046,346	$13,469,513	2.13%
28	38	Russia	$609,559,232	$259,685,734	$349,873,498	134.73%
29	28	Egypt	$488,570,869	$406,082,616	$82,488,253	20.31%
30	29	Finland	$429,554,884	$392,622,260	$36,932,624	9.41%
31	34	Saudi Arabia	$356,655,345	$299,364,954	$57,290,391	19.14%
32	32	Pakistan	$351,459,227	$313,530,233	$37,928,994	12.10%
33	30	Philippines	$349,590,080	$339,310,957	$10,279,123	3.03%
34	39	Vietnam	$336,603,163	$218,249,439	$118,353,724	54.23%
35	43	Canada	$288,902,904	$174,135,823	$114,767,081	65.91%
36	36	South Africa	$284,348,106	$281,827,570	$2,520,536	0.89%
37	35	Austria	$281,188,080	$298,556,582	$(17,368,502)	-5.82%
38	33	New Zealand	$273,179,655	$309,551,948	$(36,372,293)	-11.75%
39	51	Jordan	$252,877,952	$131,923,827	$120,954,125	91.68%
40	37	Bangladesh	$250,671,564	$273,183,958	$(22,512,394)	-8.24%
41	44	Czech Republic	$242,991,326	$166,671,818	$76,319,508	45.79%
42	40	United Arab Emirates	$220,748,142	$197,413,203	$23,334,939	11.82%
43	48	Guatemala	$217,085,757	$143,745,558	$73,340,199	51.02%
44	85	Kazakhstan	$212,586,289	$23,274,139	$189,312,150	813.40%
45	50	Colombia	$203,857,152	$133,875,460	$69,981,692	52.27%
46	52	Hungary	$199,658,955	$125,146,032	$74,512,923	59.54%
47	41	Portugal	$192,023,912	$191,154,607	$869,305	0.45%
48	31	Argentina	$179,750,677	$332,753,451	$(153,002,774)	-45.98%
49	46	Dominican Republic	$177,933,525	$146,378,506	$31,555,019	21.56%
50	55	Norway	$176,104,781	$114,741,567	$61,363,214	53.48%

Some highlights:

• Much of that growth is due to the Port of Savannah’s key role with Chinese and South Korean imports for the eastern coast of the United States. Chinese imports into Georgia have more than doubled since 2003, from $6.3 billion to $12.7 billion last year. Brunswick’s port, a leading car-importing seaport, is also playing a key role the state’s imports from South Korea are up 138 percent in that same time period. The one-year increase for Korean imports is, however, a more modest 4 percent.

• The state’s trade is about more than China, which has more than twice the trade of No. 2 Japan, and South Korea. Georgia has 19 nations in its Billion Dollar Club those nations with total imports and exports exceeding $1 billion one more than last year.

• Georgia surpassed $50 billion in imports for the first time in 2006. It passed $40 billion for the first time in 2005 and $30 billion for the first time in 2003.

• While the state’s exports have not grown as quickly, they are up 64 percent over the same three-year period, compared to 74 percent for imports. That means a widening deficit. In addition to record total trade, record imports and record exports, the state also registered a record deficit: $26.7 billion, more than double the 2003 deficit.

• Georgia has a trade surplus with 127 nations, a deficit with 88 nations.

• The state’s leading imports are cars, medicine and computers. The leading exports are jet parts, cars and chemical wood pulp.