Chart Gallery
AIA's Aerospace Research Center provides the latest statistics to track trends in the industry. Below are graphs that illustrate these statistics in easily viewable formats, as well as explanations of the information presented.
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Aerospace Industry Sales Even in a depressed economy aerospace sales hit a recorded high 215.2 billion dollars in 2009, a 4% increase over 2008 sales. The Missiles market segment lead the record year with a 10% increase in sales followed closely by military aircraft. All market segments exhibit growth of 2% or more with the exception of the related products segment, which saw an 8% decrease in sales in 2009. For more information, see Series 02. |
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Aerospace Orders, Shipments & Backlog Shipment numbers have been steadily rising in the aerospace industry since 2003—2009 was no exception. The aerospace industry shipped 206 billion dollars worth of products in 2009. Shipments may have gone up, but new orders and backlog slipped from record highs recorded in 2008 and 2009. Backlog numbers dropped slightly to 362 billion dollars. New Order numbers fell harder to 166 billion dollars. For more information, see Series 26A, B and C. |
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Aerospace Employment In 2009 US employment dropped by 4% in comparison to 2008. In the same span of time employment in the Guided Missiles, Space Vehicles, and Parts sector of the aerospace industry increased its employment levels by 1% and the overall aerospace industry employment dropped by 2%. The most significant drop took place in the Aircraft and Parts segment which fell off over 3%. For more information, see Group 2: Employment. |
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R&D Scientists and Engineers In the mid-1980s, one out of five research and development scientists and engineers was employed in the aerospace industry. That portion fell to 3.3% in 2007, the latest year's data available from the National Science Foundation. Likewise, the numbers of R&D scientists and engineers has fallen from nearly 145,000 in 1986 to a low of 19,100 in 2002 before recovering. Scientists and engineers hurdle the technological challenges and bring awe-inspiring new products and innovations to life. |
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Aerospace Foreign Trade The aerospace industry’s trade balance was over $56 billion in 2009. The industry recorded over 80 billion dollars in exports and imports shrunk to 33 billion dollars; these numbers are still dwarfed by the record setting years the industry experienced from 2006 to 2008. For more information, see Series 31 and 32. |
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Foreign Trade by Industry The aerospace industry’s trade balance was over $56 billion in 2009. The industry recorded over 80 billion dollars in exports and imports shrunk to 33 billion dollars; these numbers are still dwarfed by the record setting years the industry experienced from 2006 to 2008. For more information, see Series 31 and 32. |
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Top Aerospace Trade Partners France became the strongest importer of US aerospace products in 2009 importing 8.2 billion dollars of goods. Other big importers include the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. The US aerospace industry recorded a trade deficient with both France and Canada in 2009, importing over nearly half of all aerospace imports from these two countries alone. |
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