Standard & Poor's announced that for fiscal year 2006, S&P 500 companies with full reporting information posted 44.2% of their sales from outside of the United States - nearly 37% more than reported five years ago in 2001.

The data is based upon 238 companies within the S&P 500 that have full reporting information. "The significant increase in foreign sales by U.S. companies over the past five years is due to the rapidly expanding foreign market for goods and services," says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at Standard & Poor's. "We believe that the present trend will continue with greater portions of U.S. products being produced and sold abroad."

Standard & Poor's findings were based on fiscal year 2006 data for issues with full reporting information, representing 53.7% of the S&P 500's market value. Standard & Poor's also calculated that an additional 0.95% of sales was generated from U.S. produced goods and services that were exported abroad, down from the 1.14% reported in 2005.

While globalization is apparent in almost all company reports, exact sales and export levels are difficult to obtain. Many companies tend to categorize sales by regions or markets, while others segregate out government sales. Additionally, intra-company sales, and hence profits, are sometimes structured to take advantage of trade and tax polices. "Despite the lack of full reporting information, the growing significance of international sales and profits among U.S. domiciled companies should not be overlooked as more U.S. companies are positioning themselves, via greater production abroad, to take advantage of the growth in the foreign middle class," concludes Silverblatt.