In a year or two, the South will account for more exports than the Northeast, Midwest and West combined.

By Michael Randle, Editor

William Faulkner, arguably Mississippi’s most famous writer, once said, “To understand the world, you have to understand a place like Mississippi.” 

From our friends at Mississippi History Now: 

“To the world, Mississippi was the epicenter of the cotton production phenomenon during the first half of the 19th century. The state was swept along by the global economic force created by its cotton production, the demand by cotton textile manufacturing in Europe, and New York’s financial and commercial dealings. Mississippi did not exist in a vacuum. So, in a sense, Faulkner’s words could be reversed: ‘To understand Mississippi, you have to understand the world.’ ”

Faulkner should have written “To understand the world, you have to understand a place like the South, the ‘Land of Cotton.’ ” 
Because the South was up to its ears in it the first half of the 19th century and that crop was exported to more than 300 places on the globe. Most of those exports were provided by slave labor throughout the region and in other U.S. regions. 

While no records exist, it is possible that the South exported so much cotton to Europe and elsewhere that the value topped the exports of the West, Midwest and Northeast combined. We will never know. We do know that slave labor was responsible for not only building the South, but much of the country 200 years ago.

Although the South might not have exported in dollar value what the other three U.S. regions did 200 years ago, it is about to happen now.

At nearly $1 trillion a year, the South’s export totals are close to topping the other three U.S. regions combined. In 100 years, we have already topped the population of the Northeast and Midwest combined, so this export data is predictable. 

With over $200 billion in recent manufacturing announcements that have not yet been completed, the South’s export totals are about to soar after those EV plant open for business. Here is the data on Southern state exports and out-of-region exports:

Exports in Value by States and by Region, 2023

South: $920 billion

Midwest: $360 billion

West: $353 billion

Northeast: $291 billion

 

Southern Exports by State 

Texas: $445 billion

Louisiana: $100 billion

Florida: $69 billion

Georgia: $50 billion

North Carolina: $42 billion

Kentucky: $40 billion

Tennessee: $38 billion

South Carolina: $37 billion

Alabama: $28 billion

Virginia: $22 billion

Missouri: $18 billion

Mississippi: $14 billion

Oklahoma: $7 billion

Arkansas: $7 billion

District of Columbia: $2 billion

Source: Various federal agencies, Statistica