Total value of Pennsylvania's exports continues to increase

                                May 29, 1997



  Total value of Pennsylvania's exports continues to increase

     MIDDLETOWN, Pa. -- Pennsylvania's role as a major exporter is continuing.

     Between 1995 and 1996, the total value of Commonwealth
exports increased 5.7 percent, according to figures compiled
by the Pennsylvania State Data Center at Penn State Harrisburg. 

     Pennsylvania exports rose from $13.6 billion in 1994 to
$15.2 billion in 1995, and again to $16.1 billion in 1996. The
Commonwealth's exports constituted 2.6 percent of the United State's
total of $622 billion.  

     In 1996, the largest percentage of Pennsylvania's exports,
19.2 percent, was industrial and commercial machinery, including
computers. The total value of exports in this category was $3.1
billion, an 8.3 percent increase from 1995.  This industrial
category has been the number one export of the 1990s.

     Other top categories consisted of electronic and electrical
equipment (14.9 percent), chemicals and allied products (13.4
percent), transportation equipment (9.0 percent), and primary
metal industries (8.0 percent).

     The Commonwealth contributed 10 percent of all U.S. export
values in stone, clay, glass, and concrete products, 6.2 percent
in printing, publishing, and allied industries, 5.7 percent in
primary metal industries, and 5.3 percent in coal mining. The
Commonwealth's agricultural exports totaled $976.8 million in 1996,
representing 1.2  percent of all U.S. agricultural exports.

     In 1996, Canada remained the top importer of Pennsylvania
and U.S. exports -- a continuing trend of the 1990s. Exports to
Canada made up 33 percent -- $5.3 billion -- of total
Pennsylvania exports.  

     Exports to the United Kingdom, $1.1 billion, increased 16.8
percent from 1995 to 1996, causing it to move from third to second
largest importer of Pennsylvania products.  Japan, at $1 billion,
and Mexico, at $800,000, took third and fourth positions, respectively.    

     State-specific export figures are released by the U.S. Census
Bureau's Foreign Trade Division and are refined by the Massachusetts
Institute for Social and Economic Research.

     The state-sponsored Pennsylvania State Data Center is the
Commonwealth's official source of population and economic statistics
and services.  It is based at Penn State Harrisburg's Institute
of State and Regional Affairs.

______________________________________________________________
Editors: For more information, contact Jennifer Shultz at the Data
Center, (717) 948-6310, or the Penn State Harrisburg Public
Information Office, (717) 948-6029.

Source of Information:	State-specific export figures are
			released by the U.S. Census
			Bureau's Foreign Trade Division and
			are refined by the Massachusetts
			Institute for Social and Economic
			Research
			
Accompany Table:        PA Exports, 1996