Visual Essay

Activities of U.S. Multinational Enterprises in 2022

September 13, 2024

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The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released statistics on the activities of U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs) in 2022. These statistics provide a picture of the overall activities of U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates and contain a wide variety of indicators of their financial structure and operations. The statistics cover items that are needed to analyze the characteristics, performance, and economic impact of U.S. MNEs on the U.S. and foreign economies and are obtained from mandatory surveys of U.S. MNEs conducted by BEA.

The following charts present highlights of BEA U.S. MNE statistics for 2022. Much more detail, including additional data items, can be found on the “Activities of U.S. Multinational Enterprises” product page.

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• Worldwide employment by U.S. MNEs increased 2.2 percent to 44.3 million workers in 2022 from 43.3 million workers in 2021. Employment in the United States by U.S. parents increased 2.5 percent to 30.2 million workers, while employment abroad by majority-owned foreign affiliates increased 1.5 percent to 14.0 million workers.
• U.S. parent employment accounted for 68.3 percent of worldwide employment by U.S. MNEs, while majority-owned foreign affiliate employment accounted for 31.7 percent.

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• U.S. parents accounted for 22.6 percent of all U.S. private industry employment in 2022, down from 23.1 percent in 2021.
• The manufacturing sector accounted for 25 percent of U.S. parent employment. Within manufacturing, transportation equipment employed the most workers, followed by chemicals and food. Retail trade accounted for 23 percent of U.S. parent employment.
• Within “other industries,” transportation and warehousing, along with accommodation and food services, employed the most workers.
• Employment increased in all major industry categories with the exception of wholesale trade.

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• Chart 2 illustrates the percentage of U.S. parent employment by industry. Chart 3 compares those shares to the share of U.S. parent employment by U.S. private industry sector. (Table 6.4D “Full-Time and Part-Time Employees by Industry” was used to calculate U.S. parent share of U.S. private industry employment in chart 3.)
• U.S. parents in the manufacturing sector accounted for 59 percent of U.S. private industry manufacturing employment.
• U.S. parents in the information sector accounted for 7 percent of U.S. parent employment and 68 percent of U.S. private industry information employment.

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• The countries with the largest employment by majority-owned foreign affiliates were India, Mexico, the United Kingdom, China, and Canada. Together, these five countries accounted for nearly half of all majority-owned foreign affiliate employment.
• In India, the largest industry was professional, scientific, and technical services. In Mexico, the largest industry was manufacturing, while other industries accounted for the largest share in the United Kingdom.

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• Current-dollar value added of U.S. parents, a measure of their direct contribution to U.S. gross domestic product, increased 4.3 percent to $5.3 trillion. The sector with the largest increase was manufacturing.
• Majority-owned foreign affiliate current-dollar value added increased 4.6 percent to $1.6 trillion. The largest increase was in the mining industry.
• U.S. parents accounted for 76 percent of worldwide value added by U.S. MNEs, while majority-owned foreign affiliates accounted for the remaining 24 percent.

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• U.S. parents accounted for 23.3 percent of all U.S. private industry value added, down from 24.5 percent in 2021.
• The industry that accounted for the largest share of U.S. parent value added was manufacturing, accounting for 35 percent of the total.
• Other industries and finance and insurance were second and third, respectively, with transportation and warehousing contributing the largest share within other industries.

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• The three countries with the largest value added by majority-owned foreign affiliates were the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland. Together, these three countries accounted for 29 percent of global majority-owned foreign affiliate value added.
• Manufacturing was the largest industry contributor to value added within all three of these countries.

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• U.S. parent expenditures for property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) increased 13.1 percent to $826 billion. The largest increase was in the information sector.
• Majority-owned foreign affiliate PP&E expenditures increased to $197 billion.
• U.S. parents contributed 81 percent of worldwide PP&E expenditures by U.S. MNEs, while majority-owned foreign affiliates contributed the remaining 19 percent.

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• U.S. parents accounted for 43.5 percent of all U.S. PP&E expenditures, a higher share than for employment and value added.
• The industries with the largest U.S. parent PP&E expenditures were manufacturing (30 percent), other industries (21 percent), and information (18 percent).
• Within other industries, utilities and real estate and rental and leasing contributed the largest shares.
• PP&E expenditures increased in all major industry categories with the exception of wholesale trade.

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• The countries with the largest PP&E expenditures by majority-owned foreign affiliates were the United Kingdom, Canada, and China. These three countries accounted for approximately one-quarter of total majority-owned foreign affiliate PP&E expenditures.
• Mining accounted for the largest share of PP&E expenditures in Canada. Other industries accounted for the largest share of PP&E expenditures in the United Kingdom, while manufacturing accounted for the largest share in China.

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• Research and development (R&D) expenditures by U.S. parents increased 11.9 percent to $448.9 billion. The largest increases were in the computers and electronic products manufacturing and the information industries.
• R&D expenditures by majority-owned foreign affiliates increased to $73 billion.
• U.S. parents accounted for 86 percent of all worldwide R&D expenditures by U.S. MNEs, while majority-owned foreign affiliates contributed the remaining 14 percent.

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• U.S. parents accounted for 66.6 percent of all R&D expenditures by U.S. businesses in 2021, the latest year that U.S. business R&D is available. This share is substantially higher than the U.S. parent share of U.S. business value added or employment.
• Manufacturing accounted for the largest share of U.S. parent R&D expenditures, making up over half of the total. Information was the second-largest industry.

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• The three countries with the largest R&D expenditure by majority-owned foreign affiliates were the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. These three countries accounted for 29 percent of all majority-owned foreign affiliate R&D expenditures.
• By industry, the largest contributor to R&D expenditures in the United Kingdom and Switzerland was information and in Germany was manufacturing.