Illinois sets new high mark for exports as it attracts record FDI.
When German copper supplier Wieland announced last year that it would invest $500 million to modernize its production facilities in East Alton, the news was but the latest confirmation that Illinois is a magnet for global foreign direct investment.
Wieland, which supplies semi-finished copper and copper alloy products, is retaining 800 jobs statewide and adding a new mill at this manufacturing complex in East Alton. “Wieland, which is a global company, could have chosen to make this investment anywhere in the United States, let alone anywhere in the world,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “This announcement is a compliment to the quality of the workers here in East Alton, their dedication and the region itself; and it is proof that in the global competition to attract and retain great companies, Illinois is competing and winning.”
The numbers back him up. According to Dunn and Bradstreet, more than 2,682 international companies employ more than 552,695 people in Illinois. The top countries by FDI employment in Illinois are the UK with 96,290 workers in the state, followed by Germany, Canada, Japan and France.
Compass Group PLC out of the UK is the top FDI employer in Illinois with 23,310 workers in the state. Other top foreign employers in Illinois include Fareva of Luxembourg, Randstad N.V. of the Netherlands, Banque de Montreal of Canada, and Continental AG of Germany.
But global commerce is not a one-way street in Illinois. The FDI goes both ways, as evidenced by the fact that five Illinois-based companies each employ more than 50,000 workers abroad, led by Chicago-based McDonald’s, which has a non-U.S. workforce of 157,508 people. United Airlines of Chicago is next on the list with 105,255.
As long as Chicago has served as the financial and commercial capital of the Central U.S., it has built and maintained global ties. In 2024, global exports from Illinois businesses reached an all-time high of $80.82 billion — a 2.5% increase from 2023 and a 35% increase from 2019, according to the World Institute for Strategic Economic Research (WISERTrade) and U.S. Census Bureau.
Illinois ranks as the largest farm exporting state in the Midwest and the fourth largest in the country, according to USDA and Census Bureau data. Agricultural products alone accounted for $5.1 billion in exports from Illinois in 2024 — up 15.7% from 2023 and up 152.2% from 2019.
Besides agriculture, the largest exporting sectors in Illinois last year were chemicals at $15.68 billion; machinery at $12.5 billion; computer and electronic products at $9.88 billion; and transportation equipment at $8.35 billion.
There are many reasons why Illinois serves as a global hub of commerce, but chief contributing factors include the following:
- Illinois has a top-20 economy in the world.
- Illinois is the No. 1 state in the Midwest for new and expanding companies, per Site Selection Magazine.
- Greater Chicago ranks as the No. 1 metro area in the U.S. for new and expanding companies, per Site Selection, and has maintained this perch for 12 years.
- There are 32 Fortune 500 headquarters and over 2,634 international companies from 73 countries based in Illinois.
- Illinois has a skilled and trained workforce of 6.5 million people.
- Illinois is home to three national laboratories: USDA, Argonne and Fermilab.
- Illinois is the only U.S. state with all six Class I freight railroads.
Pitchbook recently analyzed 1,234 international capital deals in Illinois from 2019 through the third quarter of 2024 and found that the top five foreign investors by deal count in Illinois-based companies were from the UK, Canada, India, Singapore and Switzerland. Among the largest of these investment deals was Medline’s $34 billion leveraged buyout (LBO) by U.S.-based private equity firms from the UAE, Singapore and the U.S.
Recent FDI facility deals in Chicago came from BSB Industry of Denmark, Rapyuta Robotics of Japan, and Farmer’s Milk of Ukraine. “Chicago is a key strategic hub for Japanese companies in the U.S. Midwest, offering industrial diversity, market scale, excellent connectivity, a skilled workforce and a high quality of life,” said Nakagawa Takashi, chief executive director of the Chicago office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). “The city’s innovation ecosystem has also attracted a growing number of Japanese startups. WBC [World Business Chicago] and JETRO have actively supported Japanese business engagement through joint initiatives, such as the co-hosted seminar in Tokyo in March and the Quantum Delegation to Chicago in June. I am delighted to see our partnership becoming increasingly tangible and dynamic.”
To support and enhance further ties abroad, Illinois EDC and DCEO organized multiple foreign trade trips for Illinois officials and business leaders this year. These include trade missions to Japan, Mexico, Dubai, Monterrey, Barcelona, Toronto, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Paris.
