Trade report says 70 percent of Idaho exports are high-tech 

If Egypt was the gift of the Nile, then Idaho is the gift of the semiconductor. At least that’s how it looks according to a report released Tuesday by technology trade association AeA.

Cyberstates 2008: A State-by-State Overview of High-Tech International Trade says that in 2007, $3.3 billion of Idaho’s $4.7 billion in exports were high-tech – a full 70 percent. Of that figure, $2.8 billion came from the semiconductor industry, making Idaho the fifth-largest exporter of computer chips and the second most concentrated high-tech exporter in the country (behind Vermont, with 75 percent).

The next biggest high-tech export in Idaho is computers and peripheral equipment (led by Hewlett-Packard) at $350 million – eight times less than is contributed by semiconductors, most of which are manufactured by Boise-based Micron Technology.

The 98-page study compiles similar data on all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico based on 2006 and 2007 figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of the Census. It reports that while Idaho saw its high-tech exports increase by $695 million from 2006 to 2007 (the third largest year-over-year dollar increase in the country), U.S. high-tech exports as a whole fell $6.9 billion, from $220.2 billion to $214.8 billion.

Supporting about 894,600 domestic workers nationwide, the majority of those exports went to NAFTA trade partners Canada and Mexico ($29.4 billion and $26 billion worth, respectively), China ($14.5 billion), Japan ($11.9 billion) and Germany ($11.2 billion). The European Union, however, was the single largest destination for U.S. high-tech goods, accounting for $46.6 billion.

Ranked 16^th overall, Idaho’s high-tech exports support about 13,500 domestic jobs and flow mostly to Singapore ($1.05 billion), China ($658 million), the Philippines ($299 million), Taiwan ($261 million) and Japan ($184 million).

Idaho also looked pretty good against its neighbors, outranking Washington State, with $3 billion in high-tech exports; Utah and Montana, both with $1.1 billion; Nevada, with $714 million; and Wyoming, coming in last nationally with $8 million.

Oregon was the regional leader, with nearly twice Idaho’s high-tech exports – $6.5 billion worth – but Idaho outranked Oregon’s tech export concentration of 39 percent. While Oregon’s exports supported the most jobs regionally – 33,900 – Idaho’s 13,500 was the next highest figure.

Unsurprisingly, the nation’s top cyberstate was California, with $48.2 billion in high-tech exports, followed by Texas, with $35.9 billion. Florida, New York and Massachusetts rounded out the top five. The bottom five were North Dakota, Hawaii, Montana, Alaska and Wyoming.

Trade in the Cyberstates 2008 is the second annual edition of the report, and is a companion to Cybercities 2008 and Cyberstates 2008, published in June and April, respectively. AeA members can purchase each of the reports for $125; non-members for $250.

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