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Annual trade statistics: Miami soars past $70 billion but is losing ground

February 13th, 2007

Miami’s trade with the world increased 9.3 percent in 2006, according to WorldCity analysis of statistics released today by the U.S. Census Department, trailing the national average and endangering South Florida’s spot as the No. 13-ranked Customs district in the nation.

Nevertheless, for the first time, the Customs district surpassed $70 billion in annual imports and exports, finishing at $72 billion. South Florida didn’t surpass $60 billion until last year and only surpassed $50 billion in 2003.

The Customs district of Philadelphia is challenging South Florida’s No. 13 ranking. In 2003, South Florida was ranked No. 11, having since been passed by both Cleveland, Ohio and the Savannah Customs district, which encompasses the entire state.

“Miami’s stature as the Gateway to the Americas can be a double-edged sword,” said WorldCity President Ken Roberts. “Despite the nearly unprecedented strength and stability of Latin American economies in recent years, Asia is where all the growth has been occurring, particularly China. While that has been true for South Florida as well China is now No. 5 overall we are still largely focused south here.”

2006	2005	Total Trade	2006	2005	Dollar Change	Percent change
		All Districts	$2,892,262,227,012	$2,579,432,153,064	$312,830,073,948	12.13%
1	1	Los Angeles, California	$329,422,995,915	$293,946,624,166	$35,476,371,749	12.07%
2	2	New York City, New York	$295,007,419,490	$267,585,279,284	$27,422,140,206	10.25%
3	3	Detroit, Michigan	$238,504,923,059	$229,933,862,350	$8,571,060,709	3.73%
4	5	Houston, Texas	$162,184,758,421	$136,451,170,833	$25,733,587,588	18.86%
5	4	Laredo, Texas	$157,451,698,203	$139,277,623,715	$18,174,074,488	13.05%
6	6	New Orleans, Louisiana	$153,034,232,587	$130,369,162,897	$22,665,069,690	17.39%
7	7	Chicago, Illinois	$120,649,125,594	$108,616,667,535	$12,032,458,059	11.08%
8	8	Seattle, Washington	$119,894,432,431	$100,551,731,987	$19,342,700,444	19.24%
9	9	San Francisco, Calif.	$111,115,763,668	$98,952,033,098	$12,163,730,570	12.29%
10	11	Savannah, Georgia	$82,472,671,175	$72,545,576,486	$9,927,094,689	13.68%
11	10	Buffalo, New York	$82,246,675,402	$77,601,557,864	$4,645,117,538	5.99%
12	12	Cleveland, Ohio	$77,575,803,260	$69,837,369,038	$7,738,434,222	11.08%
13	13	Miami, Florida	$72,078,088,844	$65,898,071,729	$6,180,017,115	9.38%
14	14	Philadelphia, Pa.	$69,203,265,820	$58,005,790,166	$11,197,475,654	19.30%
15	15	Dallas, Texas	$58,278,924,487	$49,599,138,296	$8,679,786,191	17.50%
16	17	El Paso, Texas	$52,238,557,920	$47,921,799,187	$4,316,758,733	9.01%
17	18	San Diego, California	$50,772,885,681	$43,392,364,988	$7,380,520,693	17.01%
18	16	Charleston, S. Carolina	$49,271,746,203	$48,045,072,031	$1,226,674,172	2.55%
19	20	Norfolk, Virginia	$44,452,456,136	$40,274,714,178	$4,177,741,958	10.37%
20	19	Ogdensburg, New York	$44,415,271,961	$41,436,225,861	$2,979,046,100	7.19%
21	22	Great Falls, Montana	$40,259,076,408	$36,820,331,881	$3,438,744,527	9.34%
22	21	Baltimore, Maryland	$39,639,021,735	$38,619,563,558	$1,019,458,177	2.64%
23	25	Tampa, Florida	$37,667,053,486	$29,465,119,589	$8,201,933,897	27.84%
24	23	Low Value Shipments	$36,960,859,345	$32,154,682,418	$4,806,176,927	14.95%
25	24	Boston, Massachusetts	$33,269,907,132	$32,071,776,690	$1,198,130,442	3.74%

Other highlights:

• Brazil remains No. 1 as South Florida’s trade partner, as it has been for many years, though its growth was slowed greatly by diminished aviation imports and exports related to Embraer, one of the world’s leading jet manufacturers.

• South Florida has the nation’s largest and one of its few trade surpluses, largely because it feeds into Latin America.

• A record 21 nations joined South Florida’s Billion Dollar Club more than $1 billion in total imports and exports, with Panama joining the list in 2006.

• Among South Florida’s Top 10 trade partners, four are South American nations, three are Central American, one is Caribbean, one European and one Asian.

Total U.S. trade surpassed $3 trillion for the first time, with Canada overwhelmingly the No. 1 trade partner, followed by China which passed Mexico in 2006. Los Angeles is the top-ranked Customs district, followed by New York, Detroit and Houston.