Agriculture's share of total U.S. exports has grown since 2000

With the strong growth in U.S. agricultural exports since 2000, agriculture’s share of total U.S. exports has been rising. Agriculture’s share of U.S. exports fell during the 1980s and 1990s, when the value of agricultural exports grew more slowly than total exports, but that trend has reversed since 2000. Since then, the combination of strong global demand, particularly in developing countries, and higher prices for farm commodities, has boosted agriculture’s share of all U.S. exports from a low of 6.6 percent in 2000 to an average of 9.1 percent during 2011-2013. Although U.S. agricultural imports have also grown since 2000, agricultural exports have grown more rapidly, leading to the expansion of the U.S. agricultural trade surplus, with that surplus reaching a record $40 billion in 2013. This chart is based on data found in Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States.

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