WorldCity, Miami in danger of falling a notch, to No. 14 behind Philadelphia | Connecting Local Business Leaders To The Global Economy

Miami in danger of falling a notch, to No. 14 behind Philadelphia

February 1st, 2007

Miami will surpass $70 billion in annual trade for the first time when the year-end statistics are released on Feb. 13, according to WorldCity projections.

The Customs district, led by Miami International Airport, the Port of Miami and Port Everglades, reached $60 billion for the first time the year before, in 2005, and $50 billion only two years before that, in 2003.

Despite that impressive record, it is barely keeping up with growth trends across the country. Through the first 11 months of the year, the average growth from 2003 to 2006 was 47 percent while South Florida’s rate during that same time period was 39 percent.

In November of 2003, Miami was the nation’s 11th-busiest Customs district. Today, it is the 13th busiest, in dollar terms, having fallen behind both Savannah and Cleveland. Philadelphia, currently No. 14, grew at nearly twice the rate of South Florida through the first 11 months of the year, 19.5 percent to 10 percent, and was within $2.6 billion of catching South Florida. While it appears Miami will be able to fend off Philadelphia for 2006, it is not likely to fend it off for more than a few months into 2007.

South Florida’s biggest problem is that its leading trade partners are underperforming.

2006	2005	Total Trade	Nov. 2006 YTD	Nov. 2005 YTD	Dollar Change	Percent Change
		World Total	$65,978,675,056	$59,953,987,429	$6,024,687,627	10.05%
1	1	Brazil	$8,124,833,827	$8,088,851,332	$35,982,495	0.44%
2	2	Venezuela	$4,534,979,067	$3,900,231,405	$634,747,662	16.27%
3	3	Dominican Republic	$4,179,183,668	$3,772,602,881	$406,580,787	10.78%
4	4	Colombia	$4,010,907,251	$3,569,704,055	$441,203,196	12.36%
5	5	Costa Rica	$3,586,432,821	$3,195,320,593	$391,112,228	12.24%
6	7	China	$3,578,808,966	$3,064,918,588	$513,890,378	16.77%
7	6	Honduras	$3,230,104,293	$3,171,833,188	$58,271,105	1.84%
8	9	Chile	$2,206,209,393	$1,812,555,469	$393,653,924	21.72%
9	8	Guatemala	$2,071,226,205	$2,121,881,047	($50,654,842)	-2.39%
10	12	United Kingdom	$1,728,994,679	$1,360,825,930	$368,168,749	27.05%
11	10	El Salvador	$1,698,596,961	$1,717,948,784	($19,351,823)	-1.13%
12	11	Argentina	$1,532,542,215	$1,376,570,082	$155,972,133	11.33%
13	16	Peru	$1,470,999,114	$1,173,544,352	$297,454,762	25.35%
14	13	France	$1,391,626,296	$1,270,710,098	$120,916,198	9.52%
15	14	Mexico	$1,370,769,054	$1,225,291,947	$145,477,107	11.87%
16	15	Italy	$1,244,268,633	$1,193,385,288	$50,883,345	4.26%
17	17	Ecuador	$1,192,309,828	$1,148,679,572	$43,630,256	3.80%
18	19	Bahamas	$1,145,838,217	$1,058,194,555	$87,643,662	8.28%
19	18	Netherlands	$1,005,901,795	$1,099,654,579	($93,752,784)	-8.53%
20	20	Germany	$1,001,779,666	$927,692,978	$74,086,688	7.99%
21	21	Panama	$939,231,844	$826,495,196	$112,736,648	13.64%
22	22	Japan	$894,404,051	$786,802,887	$107,601,164	13.68%
23	23	Haiti	$886,042,019	$739,420,512	$146,621,507	19.83%
24	24	Paraguay	$776,547,064	$728,832,472	$47,714,592	6.55%
25	25	Nicaragua	$768,107,540	$649,656,681	$118,450,859	18.23%

Trade with Brazil, the dominant trade partner with South Florida, is up less than 30 percent from 2003 to 2006, according to 11 month statistics, nearly 10 points below Miami’s average. That includes a 33 percent decline in imports from Brazil.

Trade with No. 3 Dominican Republic is up just 8 percent over the same period, No. 5 Costa Rica is up 7 percent, No. 7 Honduras is up slightly more than 10 percent, No. 9 Guatemala 6 percent and No. 11 El Salvador is down 5 percent.

There are bright spots, of course: Venezuela, China, Chile, the United Kingdom, Argentina and France, for example.