Exports from Connecticut fell 15% last year to $13.8 billion, according to the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), largely due to pandemic-related disruptions.
DECD reported in its latest publication of the Connecticut Economic Digest that uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic led consumers to hold off on buying big-ticket items. Additionally, lockdown measures and border closings slowed deliveries, disrupted supply chains and increased trade costs, DECD reported.
The pandemic had particularly deleterious effects on product exports in the commercial aviation industry, DECD reported.
“Much of this related to COVID-19’s reverberations throughout the aviation industry, travel limits and global border shutdowns,” the report said.
Exports of typically strong Connecticut sectors like aircraft parts, industrial machinery and electrical machinery dropped significantly last year, while exports of pharmaceutical products increased by more than 138% from last year, DECD reported.
