Everything is quite literally bigger in Texas.
Here are 7 facts about the Lone Star State’s booming economy.
1. Texas has the 10th-largest GDP in the world, if it were its own country.
According to a report by the American Enterprise Institute, Texas would have the 10th-largest economy in the world if it were its own country. In 2017, Texas’ approximate economic output was $1.7 trillion, slightly more than Canada’s and slightly less than Brazil’s.
2. Texas produces nearly 40 percent of America’s oil.
Texas produced 37 percent of America’s crude oil, and 24 percent of the marketed natural gas in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Its 15.94 billion barrel crude oil reserves could fill more than 1 million Olympic swimming pools, according to the EIA.
This translates to more than 669 billion gallons of oil. A standard Olympic-size swimming pool holds slightly more than 660,253 gallons of water by comparison, or roughly 1,013,247 gallons of Texas’ oil reserves.
3. Texas is the largest producer of wind power in America.
Texas also dwarfs other states’ wind-power production, according to the Texas Almanac. In 2017, Texas windmills produced 21,044 megawatts– compared to Iowa’s, the second-largest producer, which produced 6,952 megawatts.
4. Texas is home to ten percent of all manufacturing in the U.S.
According to a report by Forbes, in 2017, Texas’ manufacturing output exceeded $226 billion, meaning the Lone Star State represents one-tenth of all manufacturing dollars generated in America. Manufacturing provided about 865,000 jobs in Texas in 2017.
5. Texas produces more than $13 billion worth of wine every year.
In 1980, Texas ranked 48th in the U.S. as a wine-producing state. Within 40 years, it became the nation’s fifth-largest producer of wine, with more than 400 wineries generating over $13 billion annually, TexasFineWine.com reports.
6. Nearly 1 million business are owned by women in Texas.
Over the last two decades female-owned businesses have grown by nearly 150 percent. Texas now ranks third overall in the U.S. of having the most women-owned businesses, according to the state’s comptroller’s office. Roughly half of the overall workforce is female, slightly higher than the national average of 47%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
7. Texas has created the largest transportation network in the U.S., with more than 313,200 miles of public roads.
Texas also has 16 seaports and more than 380 airports.
It uses this network to ship goods produced in and out of the state. The largest number of exports to go Mexico, followed by Canada, and China.
In 2015, Texas sent more than $92.4 billion worth of exports to Mexico. The same year it sent $25.5 billion worth of exports to Canada and $11.5 billion worth of exports to China.
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