For the purposes of this definition, “region” refers to the area defined by the user and passed into Analyst. Exports show the amount of money that is spent by industries located outside the region in exchange for goods or services produced by an industry located in the region.

Exports can be either foreign or domestic. An example of foreign exports would be a business in Toronto purchasing consulting services from a consulting firm in New York in exchange for dollars. An example of domestic exports would be a firm in Maryland selling a software product to a firm in Alabama—the Maryland firm has exported its product to Alabama in exchange for dollars. Both the consulting and software examples are considered exports, because a good or service is leaving the region, and dollars are entering the region in exchange.

The exports figure does not directly include wages of employees in the industry from which goods or services were purchased. Money entering the region in exchange for goods and services exported out of the region will likely be indirectly used to pay employees (regardless of where the employee lives), but the exports figure is agnostic of what the industry producing the good or service will do with the money.

Source: Lightcast’s model, incorporating data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).