U.S. Census Bureau News
U.S. Department of Commerce   Washington, D.C. 20230
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8:30 A.M. EST FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2008
CB-08-01  
For information contact:  (301) 763-3629                         
Kristen S. Corwin or Benjamin Shelak
              
A Profile of U.S. Exporting Companies, 2005 - 2006
     
The U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, releases the report,  A Profile of U.S. Exporting Companies, 2005 - 2006.  
This report provides information on identified companies and their known export value. Identified U.S. exporters are defined 
as companies that can be linked to export transactions. The known value is the value of export transactions linked to specific 
companies. The  number of identified exporters increased by 2.3 percent in 2006.  The known value increased by 15 percent.

In 2006, the "identified U.S. exporters" accounted for $910 billion in exports or almost 88 percent of the total value of 
exported goods ($1,037 billion). In 2006 the number of identified U.S. exporters was 245.9 thousand, up from the revised 2005 
estimate of 240.4 thousand. The known value of exports was $910.5 billion, up from $789.9 billion, the revised 2005 known value.  

Because not all export shipments can be linked to specific companies, the number of exporters may be understated. Approximately 
12 percent of the 2005 and 2006 total export value could not be linked to specific companies. This portion of the total export 
value includes exports by individuals, governments, low-value estimates, and documentation filed with missing, unknown, or 
incomplete company identifiers. Export values are taken from detailed export documentation used to compile the official U.S. 
trade statistics. Company size and type information are taken from administrative records and census or survey data on file with 
the Census Bureau.                                       

The overall findings for 2006 and revised findings for 2005 are shown in Table 1, which shows the proportion of exports that were successfully 
matched to companies in the 2006 Business Register.  The 2005 figures in this report are revised from data released in the 2004-2005 exporter 
profile.  The revisions are based on the ability to match additional records.

Who Exports?

During 2006, 10 percent (24.6 thousand) of all identified exporters were multiple location companies; these companies accounted for almost 79        
percent of the known export value (Exhibit 1a).  In contrast, (221.3 thousand) single location companies, making up 90 percent of the exporting 
companies, contributed 21 percent of the known export value. Trade with related parties accounted for 37 percent of the known export value by 
multiplelocation companies compared to 16 percent by single location companies (Exhibit 3a). 
     
Exhibit 1a shows that manufacturers accounted for the largest portion of the 2006 known value, almost 64 percent with 28 percent of the identified 
exporters. "Other companies" and wholesalers accounted for over 14 percent and 22 percent of the known export value, respectively; unclassified 
exporters accounted for the remainder. .  The "other companies" category includes manufacturers of prepackaged software and books; freight forwarders 
and other transportation and warehousing firms, which often act as agents for the true exporter; business, engineering, and management services; oil 
and gas extraction companies; coal mining companies; and communication services companies. 
     
The number of multiple location companies decreased by nearly 9 percent in 2006.  All company types decreased except for "unclassified companies"; 
manufacturers decreased by almost 12 percent, wholesalers by almost 9 percent, and "other companies" by 6 percent.  The number of multiple location 
companies with the "no. of employees unknown" declined by 38 percent in 2006; of these, manufacturers dropped by 48 percent, wholesalers by 38 percent, 
and "other companies" by 36 percent.

The 2006 Export Concentration by Top Companies shows the export concentration by percent of known export value.  Of the known export value for 2006,   
62 percent was accounted for by the top 500 companies.  Over half of the total known export value was accounted for by the top 250 exporters.  The top 
100 manufacturers contributed over one-third of the total known export value and over one-half of all exports by manufacturers.
                                 
Among the company types, the top 50 manufacturers accounted for over 43 percent of the known export value of the manufacturing sector.  The top 50 
firms represented over 38 percent of the known export value for wholesalers and about 37 percent of the known value for "other companies" (Exhibit 2a). 

Large-Sized Exporters

Large identified exporting companies (those employing 500 or more workers) were responsible for more than 71 percent of the known export value, 
but represented only 3 percent of all identified exporters (Exhibit 1a).  Large companies also dominated manufacturers' exports, with 4 percent 
of manufacturing exporters (2,765 of 67,757) accounting for 84 percent of manufacturing export value ($487 billion of $578 billion). Similarly, 
large wholesalers, who comprise less than 1 percent of the wholesalers who export, accounted for more than 46 percent of the value of known exports 
by wholesalers.  Large companies in the "other" category represented over 3 percent of the identified exporters and over 52 percent of the known value 
in the "other" category.  Roughly 40 percent of large manufacturers' export value was to related parties (Exhibit 3a).

Small- and Medium-Sized Exporters

Small- and medium-sized exporters (those employing fewer than 500 workers, including number of employees unknown) comprised over 97 percent of all 
identified exporters but accounted for almost 29 percent of the known export value.  The following findings were extracted from Exhibit 1a:
     	
	Nearly 96 percent of manufacturing exporters      
	were small- or medium-sized companies;      
	however they contributed almost16 percent of the      
	sector's $578 billion in exports.

     	99 percent of wholesalers were small- or
        medium-sized companies; they accounted for      
	nearly 54 percent of the sector's $203 billion in      
	exports.  

       Almost 97 percent of "other companies" were      
	small- or medium-sized companies; they      
	represented almost 48 percent of the sector's      
	$123 billion in exports.

Export Markets

The country groups used in the 2006 Profile have been revised from those used in earlier Profiles  (Exhibits 5a, 5b, and 5c).  
Multiple countries were added to and removed from  the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the North 
American Treaty Alliance (NATO).  Please refer to World Area Country Groupings for Exhibits 5a and 5b.

Most identified exporting companies (58 percent) traded with only one foreign country.  A small percentage of companies, 0.4 percent, 
shipped to 50 or more countries; these companies accounted for exactly half (50 percent) of the known export value (Exhibit 4a).
In 2006, about 84 percent of all companies exported to at least one of the top 25 U.S. trading partners.  The largest number of 
companies shipped to Canada, followed by Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.  The order of the top 5 countries for 
U.S. exporters did not change from 2005 to 2006 (Exhibit 5a). 

Exports by State
The Census Bureau releases data on exports by state based on the origin of movement (OM).  The OM data series is based on where 
the goods began their movement to the port of exit as reported on the export document.  Exhibit 6 shows the number of companies 
exporting from each state during 2005 and 2006 based upon the OM definition.  (Note that the same company can be shown as exporting
 from multiple states.) 

     	In 2006, the top five states, based on the number      
	of identified exporting companies, were      
	California, Florida, New York, Texas, and      
	Illinois. Exporters in these five states represented      
	almost 41 percent of the total known export      
	value.

     	States/territories recording the largest increases in      
	known export value in 2006 were Delaware (58      
	percent), Nevada (44 percent), Washington (41      
	percent), the Virgin Islands (33 percent), and      
	Kansas (31 percent).

Comparison of 2005 and 2006 Results

The relative proportions of exports accounted for by manufacturers, wholesalers, and "other companies" based upon both number of 
exporters and value of exports remained consistent from 2005 to 2006.  Below are a number of noteworthy year-to-year changes 
(Exhibits 1c and 5c):

     	The number of identified exporting companies      
	increased by 5,569 or over 2 percent.  The single      
	location companies increased by 7,930 and the      
	multiple location companies decreased by 2,361.
     
     	The number of small- and medium-sized      
	companies increased by 2 percent from 233.9      
	thousand in 2005 to 239.3 thousand in 2006,      
	while the number of large companies increased      
	by 2 percent from 6,521 to 6,658.

     	The number of wholesalers increased by more      
	than 2 percent from 80.2 thousand in 2005 to      
	82.3 thousand in 2006.  Additionally, the number      
	of manufacturers increased by less than 1 percent      
	from 67.7 thousand in 2005 to 67.8 thousand  in      
	2006.

     	Among the top 25 U.S. trading partners, the      
	United Arab Emirates (10 percent), India (10      
	percent), China (8 percent), and Brazil (6 percent)      
	showed the largest percentage increases in the      
	number of identified exporting companies.       
	Belgium (-2 percent) and Japan (-1 percent)     
	 displayed the largest declines in the number of      
	exporters from 2005.

Some portion of these changes may reflect changes in the match rate rather than an actual change in the number of exporters.  
During the process of identifying individual companies, it was not possible to investigate every unmatched case.  Priority was 
given to identifying unmatched companies having high values of trade.  As a result, the information on small exporters is most 
likely understated.  Also, users should not assume that the unidentified exporters reflected the same distribution of company 
types and sizes as the identified (known) exporters.  Comparisons between the number of companies exporting in given categories 
or different years might be somewhat misleading due to differences in the percent of value we were able to match to specific companies.  
In addition, the almost 14 percent increase in total export value from $906 billion in 2005 to $1,037 billion in 2006 had an 
uncertain effect on the match rate.

Copies of the exporter profiles are available by calling (301)763-2227 
or at http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aip/index.html#profile.TABLE OF CONTENTS

Exhibit 1a. 2006 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size . .6
Exhibit 1b. 2005 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size . .8
Exhibit 1c. Percent Difference Between the 2005 and 2006 Results10
Exhibit 2a. Top Companies' Share of the 2006 Export Market by Company Type12
Exhibit 2b. Top Companies' Share of the 2005 Export Market by Company Type13
Exhibit 3a. 2006 Exports to Related Parties by Company Type and Employment Size14
Exhibit 3b. 2005 Exports to Related Parties by Company Type and Employment Size16
Exhibit 4a. 2006 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size to Number of Partner Countries18
Exhibit 4b. 2005 Exports by Company Type and Employment Size to Number of Partner Countries19
Exhibit 5a. 2006 Exports by Company Employment Size to World Areas and Selected Countries20
Exhibit 5b. 2005 Exports by Company Employment Size to World Areas and Selected Countries22
Exhibit 5c. Percent Difference Between 2005 and 2006 Exports to World Areas and Selected Countries 24
Exhibit 6a. 2006 Exports by State of the Origin of Movement, Number of Exporting Companies, 
       Value, and Percent Difference Between the 2005 and 2006 Results25
Exhibit 6b. 2005 Exports by State of the Origin of Movement, Number of Exporting Companies, 
       and Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Technical Documentation

This section contains critical information on sources and reliability of data, as well as definitions of terms and methodological 
procedures that users should consider before attempting to interpret or analyze the statistical data presented in this report.  Failure 
to do so may affect the results.
                                               
Table 1: Distribution of Exports by Identified and Unidentified Exporters
(Value in millions of dollars.  Details may not sum to total due to rounding.)

,2006 Export Value,
% of 2006 Value,
2005 Export Value,
% of 2005 Value

Total exports,
1,036,635  ,
100.0 ,
905,978,
100.0 

Low-value estimates,
22,997
2.2 ,
20,538,
2.3
 
U.S. & foreign governments
1,672  ,
0.2 ,
1,963,
0.2 

Revisions,
-508  ,
<-.01 ,
1,598,
0.2 

Identified exporters* (known value),
910,465,
87.8 ,
789,877,
87.2 

Exported merchandise in both 2005 and 2006
879,192,
84.8 ,
754,843,
83.3 

Exported merchandise in only 2005 or only 2006,
31,273,
3.0 ,
35,034,
3.9

Unidentified exports,
102,009 ,
9.8 ,
92,002,
10.1

*Number of Identified Exporters 

2006,
2005,
Exported in Both Years,
Exported in 2006 Only,
Exported in 2005 Only

245,945,
240,376,
159,294,
86,651,
81,082

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100.0 percent due to rounding.