A new PwC report says the U.S. aerospace and defense industry recorded $244B in 2018 sales and was the A&D exports leader last year with $132B in revenue.
According to the report, the U.S. remains in first place in the 2019 global A&D industry attractiveness rankings, followed by Canada, Singapore, the U.K. and Australia.
The countries were ranked based on several categories, including economy, infrastructure, industry, tax policy, labor and geopolitical risk.
The state of Washington landed the top spot in the aerospace attractiveness rankings driven by its strong performance in infrastructure, economy and industry categories. The state is home to Boeing (NYSE: BA), Blue Origin, Spaceflight Industries and Planetary Resources.
The other four highly ranked states are Georgia, California, Michigan and Illinois.
The study also found that that global A&D industry saw its operating profit climb 9 percent to $81B in 2018 with an operating margin of 10.7 percent.
PwC noted in the report that the worldwide A&D sector is expected to experience continued growth in 2019 associated with increased defense spending in the U.S. and Europe, lower corporate tax rates in the U.S. and strong merger-and-acquisition activity.
