Pennsylvania's role as a major exporter is continuing

                April 23, 1998


    Total Value of Pennsylvania's Exports 
            Continues to Increase

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

    Between 1996 and 1997, the total value of
Commonwealth exports increased 11.2 percent, according to
figures compiled by the Pennsylvania State Data Center at Penn
State Harrisburg. 

    Pennsylvania exports rose from $15.2 billion in 1995 to
$16.1 billion in 1996, and again to 17.9 billion in 1997. The
Commonwealth's exports constituted 2.6 percent of the United
State's total of $688 billion.  

    In 1997, the largest percentage of Pennsylvania's
exports, 20.3 percent, was industrial and commercial machinery,
including computers. The total value of exports in this category
was $3.6 billion, a 17.9 percent increase from 1996.  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
(12.0 percent), transportation equipment (10.0 percent), and
primary metal industries (7.9 percent).

    The Commonwealth contributed 9.3 percent of all U.S.
export values in stone, clay, glass, and concrete products, 5.9
percent in primary metal industries, 5.8 percent in printing,
publishing, and allied industries, and 5.3 percent in coal mining.
The Commonwealth's agricultural exports totaled $987 million
in 1997, representing 1.4  percent of all U.S. agricultural exports.

    In 1997, Canada remained the top importer of
Pennsylvania and U.S. exports -- a continuing trend of the 1990s.
Exports to Canada made up 34 percent -- $6.0 billion -- of total
Pennsylvania exports.  

    Exports to the United Kingdom, $1.2 billion, increased
eight percent from 1996 to 1997.  Mexico, at $1.1 billion and
Japan, at $1 billion, took third and fourth positions, respectively. 

    A detailed historical overview of Pennsylvania's exports
is presented in the Pennsylvania State Data Center publication
entitled "Trends in Pennsylvania Exports: 1988 to 1996".   

    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 Lesley Nearman at the
Data Center's State Capital Office, (717) 772-2710, or the Penn
State Harrisburg's Public Information Office, (717) 948-6029.

Source of Information:	U.S. Census Bureau's Foreign Trade
			Division ; Massachusetts Institute
			for Social and Economic Research
			
Accompany Table:        PA Exports, 1997