Worldwide employment by U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs) increased 2.2 percent to 44.3 million workers in 2022 from 43.3 million workers in 2021, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
Employment within the United States by U.S. parent companies rose 2.5 percent to 30.2 million workers in 2022, with U.S. parents accounting for 68.3 percent of worldwide employment by U.S. MNEs, up from 68.1 percent in the previous year. Employment abroad by majority-owned foreign affiliates of U.S. MNEs increased by 1.5 percent to 14 million workers, representing 31.7 percent of total employment by these enterprises.
U.S. parents made up 22.6 percent of total private industry employment in the United States in 2022, a decrease from 23.1 percent in 2021. Employment was highest in manufacturing, retail trade, and other industries such as transportation and warehousing within the United States, while abroad it was largest in India, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
The worldwide current-dollar value added of U.S. MNEs increased by 4.4 percent to $7 trillion in 2022, with value added by U.S parents rising by 4.3 percent to $5.3 trillion—a measure reflecting their direct contribution to the U.S gross domestic product (GDP). This accounted for 23.3 percent of total U.S private-industry value added, down from 24.5 percent in the prior year.
Majority-owned foreign affiliate value added saw a rise of 4.6 percent to $1.6 trillion, with significant contributions from affiliates based in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland.
Expenditures on property, plant, and equipment worldwide by U.S MNEs increased by 11.4 percent to $1 trillion; expenditures by U.S parents accounted for $826 billion while those by majority-owned foreign affiliates amounted to $196 billion.
Research and development expenditures globally among these enterprises grew by 10.8 percent to $521 billion; expenditures were primarily driven by U.S parents at $448 billion compared to $72 billion spent by their foreign affiliates.
Additional detailed statistics on various aspects such as sales, balance sheets, income statements, employee compensation, and trade are available on BEA’s website.