Texas

Commerce

Texas ranked 3rd among the 50 states in wholesale trade, with total sales of over $270 billion in 1997. The leading wholesaling centers are the Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Antonio, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland, Amarillo, Austin, and Corpus Christi metropolitan areas.

Texas ranked 2nd behind California in retail sales, which amounted to $183 billion in 1997. Of the retail stores total of 102,185; automotive dealers accounted for 14%; food stores, 13%; and restaurants and taverns, 28%.

Foreign exports through Texas during 1998 totaled $79 billion. The leading items shipped through Texas ports to foreign countries were grains, chemicals, fertilizers, and petroleum refinery products; principal imports included crude petroleum, minerals and metals (especially aluminum ores), liquefied gases, motor vehicles, bananas, sugar, and molasses. Texas ranked 2nd among the 50 states in 1998 as an exporter of goods produced in the state.