Wholesale trade in Puerto Rico in 1992 involved 2,651 establishments and major distributors, with sales of $10,187.7 million. Merchant wholesalers accounted for 90.8% of establishments and 83.4% of wholesale trade. Durable goods accounted for only 34.1% of sales. Wholesale trade in 2002 involved 2,674 businesses, 2,180 of which were firms employing fewer than 20 employees. There were 41,454 employees engaged in wholesale trade, which was a reduction of 3.8% compared with 2001.
Retail trade during 1992 involved 13,534 establishments, the major sectors being food and apparel stores. Total retail sales in 1992 amounted to $11,707 million. Two large shopping centers, Plaza las Americas and Plaza Carolina, are in the San Juan area. The San Juan area alone had retail sales of nearly $3.3 billion in 1992, or over 28.1% of the total. In 2002, 14,529 businesses were engaged in retail trade, 12,474 of which employed fewer than 20 persons. There were 172,619 employees involved in retail trade, which was a reduction of 0.5% compared with 2001.
Retail sales stood at approximately $15 billion in 2001, and several new retail chains established or expanded operations in 2002. Radio Shack announced at the end of 2002 that its best selling store in the world was the one at Plaza las Americas, with $6 million in revenue for fiscal year 2002.
Foreign trade is a significant factor in Puerto Rico's economy. Trade between the US and Puerto Rico is unrestricted. Puerto Rico is the US's 8th-largest trading partner and the world's 4th-largest purchaser of US goods per capita. In 2001, the island's imports were $29.1 billion and exports $46.9 billion. (In 2000, exports of pharmaceutical products reached $20.8 billion.) During 2001, the US received $41.4 billion of Puerto Rico's exports and supplied about $15.6 billion of its imports. The principal reason for the relative decline in imports from the continental US has been the heavy volume and cost of oil imports, especially from Venezuela, and auto imports and other goods from Japan. In 2002, Puerto Rico imported $6.3 billion in goods and services from Ireland, 2nd behind the US. Puerto Rico's 2nd largest export market behind the US was the United Kingdom ($731 million). More than 100 of US Fortune 500 multinational companies have industrial plants located in Puerto Rico.