Majority-owned U.S. affiliates of foreign multinational enterprises employed 7.94 million workers in the United States in 2021, a 2.9 percent increase from 7.71 million workers in 2020, according to statistics on U.S. affiliate operations and finances released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
Majority-owned U.S. affiliates accounted for 6.2 percent of total private-industry employment in the United States in 2021, down slightly from 6.3 percent in 2020 (chart 1). By industry, employment was largest in manufacturing and in retail trade (table 1). Majority-owned U.S. affiliates with ultimate owners in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany were the largest contributors to employment (table 2).
Current-dollar value added of majority-owned U.S. affiliates, a measure of their direct contribution to U.S. gross domestic product, increased 12.6 percent to $1.2 trillion in 2021. These affiliates accounted for 6.50 percent of total U.S. business-sector value added, down slightly from 6.52 percent in 2020.
Expenditures for property, plant, and equipment by majority-owned U.S. affiliates increased 5.0 percent to $290.8 billion. These affiliates accounted for 17.3 percent of total U.S. private business capital expenditures. Research and development (R&D) performed by majority-owned U.S. affiliates increased 9.4 percent to $78.3 billion. These affiliates accounted for 13.3 percent of total U.S. business R&D in 2020, the latest year for which all-U.S. business R&D data are available.
By state (chart 2 and table 4), private-industry employment accounted for by majority-owned U.S. affiliates was highest in South Carolina (9.5 percent), Michigan (8.8 percent), and New Hampshire (8.7 percent). In all three states, majority-owned U.S. affiliates in the manufacturing sector employed the most workers (table 3).
Additional statistics on the activities of U.S. affiliates of foreign multinationals including sales, balance sheet and income statement items, compensation of employees, trade, and more are available on BEA’s website. More industry-, country-, and state-level detail are available on the website and will be highlighted in September in the Survey of Current Business.
Updates to the statistics
Statistics for 2020 are revised to incorporate newly available and revised source data (table A). Preliminary statistics for 2020 were released in August 2022 and highlighted in “Activities of U.S. Affiliates of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in 2020” in the September 2022 Survey.
| Preliminary estimate | Revised estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of employees (thousands) | 7,858.1 | 7,714.0 |
| Value added | 1,058.3 | 1,031.3 |
| Expenditures for property, plant, and equipment | 281.8 | 276.8 |
| Research and development expenditures | 71.4 | 71.6 |
| U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis | ||
