US Civilian Aircraft Exports Surge

Non-Military Aircraft Products Are America’s Number 1 Export

© Daniel Workman

Jul 31, 2008

Aircraft approaches with landing gear showing, Richard van Binsbergen (morguefile 87589)
While the North American automotive industry slumped in 2007, worldwide sales of American civilian aircraft including engines and parts gained 15.9%.

Totalling US$87.1 billion in 2007, exports from the U.S. civilian aircraft industry now represent 7.5% of overall American exports – more than any other sector.

Total export sales are comprised of shipments of fully assembled civilian aircraft, engines plus other parts such as control instruments and aircraft landing gear.

The analysis below shows the countries that bought the most American-exported commercial and private aircraft products last year.

Top Countries for US Civilian Aircraft Exports

Sales of complete civilian aircraft from America to the rest of the world rose 19.6% in 2007 to US$48.9 billion. Assembled civilian aircraft now accounts for 4.2% of all exports shipped from the USA.

  1. China … US$6.4 billion – up 20.1% from 2006 (13% of total US civilian aircraft sales)
  2. India … $5.8 billion – up 309.8% (11.9% of total)
  3. Japan … $4.2 billion – up 18.8% (8.5% of total)
  4. United Arab Emirates … $2.9 billion – down 32.1% (5.9% of total)
  5. Canada … $2.5 billion – up 51.5% (5.1% of total)
  6. Ireland … $2.4 billion – up 30.8% (5% of total)
  7. France … $2.2 billion – up 12.7% (4.5% of total)
  8. United Kingdom … $1.8 billion – up 131.8% (3.8% of total)
  9. Brazil … $1.6 billion – up 52.6% (3.3% of total)
  10. South Korea … $1.6 billion – up 14.5% (3.2% of total)
  11. Germany … $1.5 billion – up 82.5% (3% of total)
  12. Singapore … $1.4 billion – down 34% (2.8% of total)
  13. Taiwan … $1.3 billion – up 31.1% (2.6% of total)
  14. Hong Kong … $875.7 million – up 351.9% (1.8% of total)
  15. Russia … $718.9 million – up 87.1% (1.5% of total)
  16. Mexico … $663.3 million – down 51.5% (1.4% of total)
  17. Netherlands … $590.9 million – down 33.5% (1.2% of total)
  18. Spain … $579 million – up 124.4% (1.2% of total).

The above 18 countries bought 79.6% of total U.S. exports of fully assembled civilian aircraft in 2007, with India showing the highest percentage gain among the listed countries.

Top Countries for Exported US Civilian Aircraft Engines

Last year, total American exports of civilian aircraft engines gained 15.2% to $19.5 billion. Commercial and private aircraft engines now represent 1.7% of total American exports.

  1. France … US$4.4 billion – up 45% from 2006 (22.6% of total US civilian aircraft engine sales)
  2. United Kingdom … $2.5 billion – up 1.6% (12.6% of total)
  3. Germany … $2.2 billion – up 16.5% (11.2% of total)
  4. Brazil … 1.7 billion – up 41.1% (8.6% of total)
  5. Singapore … $1.621,billion – up 9% (8.3% of total)
  6. Canada … $1.615 billion – up 0.3% (8.3% of total)
  7. Japan … $1.2 billion – up 9.6% (6.1% of total)
  8. Hong Kong … $334.1 million – up 80.4% (1.7% of total)
  9. Mexico … $325.3 million – up 13.9% (1.7% of total)
  10. Taiwan … $272.3 million – up 40.6% (1.4% of total).

The above 10 countries bought 82.4% of civilian aircraft engines exported from the USA in 2007.

Top Countries for Exported US Civilian Aircraft Parts

In addition to engines, U.S. exports of other parts including aircraft landing gear increased 8% to $18.8 billion in 2007. Sales of these aircraft parts now generate 1.6% of overall American shipments.

  1. Canada … US$2 billion – up 4.6% from 2006 (10.8% of total US civilian aircraft parts sales)
  2. United Kingdom … $1.8 billion – up 5.2% (9.6% of total)
  3. France … $1.7 billion – up 7.8% (9% of total)
  4. Brazil … $1.6 billion – up 36.5% (8.7% of total)
  5. Japan … $1.5 billion – up 7.6% (8.1% of total)
  6. Germany … $1.5 billion – down 1.3% (7.9% of total)
  7. Singapore … $1.1 billion – up 8.2% (5.7% of total)
  8. Netherlands … $884.8 million – up 15.4% (4.7% of total)
  9. China … $881.3 million – up 6.6% (4.7% of total)
  10. Italy … $519 million – up 22.2% (2.8% of total)
  11. Israel … $429.7 million – up 10.5% (2.3% of total)
  12. Australia … $383.4 million – up 34.5% (2% of total)
  13. South Korea … $314.5 million – up 12.2% (1.7% of total)
  14. Taiwan … $292.2 million – down 34.2% (1.6% of total).

The above 14 countries imported 81% of the total civilian aircraft parts that the United States exported in 2007.

Sources for this Article

This article presents independent calculations and insights based on data drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau – Foreign Trade Statistics.


The copyright of the article US Civilian Aircraft Exports Surge in Import/Export is owned by Daniel Workman. Permission to republish US Civilian Aircraft Exports Surge in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


Aircraft approaches with landing gear showing, Richard van Binsbergen (morguefile 87589)
        



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