Aerospace Industries Association
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 Sales increased across all major product groups in 2008, with many individual categories reaching record highs. Total sales increased 2% to a record $204.4 billion driven by increasing sales in nearly every other major product group. For more information, see Series 02. |
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Aerospace Sales by Customer Steady aerospace sales growth outshone a divergence between two major customer groups: the Defense Department and "other," mainly airlines and business aircraft. Following the 9/11 attacks, DoD sales increased markedly while civil aviation-related sales suffered. However, air traffic recovered and "other" customer sales rebounded in the last several years. For more information, see Series 02. |
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Aerospace Orders, Shipments & Backlog The aerospace industry recorded a record backlog in 2008, while shipments also reached new heights. Overall industry orders were $231 billion, the second highest year on record, but down 15% from a peak in 2007. Industry shipments rose $12 billion to $197 billion, the fifth straight year of growth. The value of unfilled orders reached a record $402 billion, up 9% from the previous year. For more information, see Series 26A, B and C. |
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Aerospace Foreign Trade Foreign trade remains vital to the aerospace industry. U.S. exports of $95.1 billion in 2008 account for nearly half of the industry's customer base. Despite rising imports and aggressive foreign competition, the U.S. aerospace industry maintains a sizable trade surplus (currently $57.4 billion) — the largest of all manufacturing sectors. For comparison, the nation's trade deficit topped $794 billion in 2007. For more information, see Series 31 and 32. |
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Aerospace Employment Employment continued to grow for the third straight year in 2007. Since reaching a 50-year low in 2004, 115,300 workers have been added to the industry's workforce. These new jobs are high-skilled and high-paying; in 2008, aerospace production workers earned $29.93 per hour on average. 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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