Early settlements in Virginia depended on subsistence farming of native crops such as corn and potatoes. Tobacco, the leading export crop during the colonial era, was joined by cotton during the early statehood period. Although cotton was never "king" in Virginia, as it was in many other southern states, the sale of slaves to Deep South plantations was an important source of income for Virginians, especially during the 1830s, when some 118,000 slaves were exported for profit. Eventually, a diversified agriculture developed in the piedmont and the Shenandoah Valley. Manufacturing became significant during the 19th century, with a proliferation of cotton mills, tobacco-processing plants, ironworks, paper mills, and shipyards.
Services, trade, and government are important economic sectors today. Because of Virginia's extensive military installations and the large number of Virginia residents working for the federal government in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, the federal government plays a larger role in the Virginia economy than in any other state except Hawaii. The industries that experienced the most growth in the 1990s were printing, transportation equipment, and electronic and other electrical equipment. Between 1992 and 2000, job growth in Virginia averaged 2.7% a year, and in northern Virginia, the rate was 4% a year. The state economy as a whole grew briskly, averaging 7.13% a year 1998 to 2000. However, the high concentration of high-technology industry in Virginia, with the two largest high-tech fields being computer and data processing services and electronic equipment, meant that the collapse of the dot.com bubble in the national recession of 2001 would have negative impacts even despite counter-cyclical increases in government spending. The growth rate moderated to 4.7%in 2001, employment contracted., and for 2000/01 tax revenue growth fell by more than half. By November 2002 employment was still 1.5% below the peak reached in March 2001. Tax revenues in 2001/02 declined 4%, facing the state with a billion dollar deficit after successive years of budget surpluses.
In 2001, Virginia's gross state product gross state product was $273.1 billion, the 13th largest among the states, to which general services contributed $64.5 billion; financial services, $51.8 billion; government, $48.3 billion; trade, $37.3 billion; manufacturing, $31.6 billion; transportation and public utilities, $22.6 billion, and construction, $13.3 billion. The public sector in 2001 constituted 17.7% of gross state product, the 4th highest among the states, which averaged 12%.