Minnesota manufacturers exported $4.4 billion worth of goods out of the country during the third quarter of 2010-representing a 17 percent year-over-year increase, according to data released Monday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

The third-quarter figure falls slightly short of the $4.5 billion in exports during the same period in 2008. But it's slightly higher than the dollar value of this year's second-quarter exports, which totaled $4.3 billion.

“Minnesota exports have come back strong this year, gaining 18 percent year-to-date,” DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy said in a statement. “This is good news for state manufacturers and another sign that the global economy is recovering.”

However, Minnesota's export economy isn't performing quite as well as the country's as a whole: U.S. exports climbed 19 percent in the third quarter and are up 21 percent year-to-date.

Canada, the state's largest trade partner, accounted for $1.3 billion in state-manufactured exports during the third quarter, marking a 26 percent increase from the same period last year.

Other top export markets are China ($467 million, up 40 percent), Japan ($228 million, up 17 percent), Mexico ($212 million, up 20 percent), Germany ($182 million, up 25 percent), and South Korea ($149 million, up 6 percent).

“North America and Asia remain strong markets for Minnesota manufacturers, each accounting for one-third of our foreign sales in the third quarter,” Ed Dieter, acting director of DEED's Minnesota Trade Office, said in a statement. “Canada and China increased exports significantly, but Thailand, Germany, Mexico, Taiwan, Japan, and Brazil also had solid gains of more than $30 million each.

Ireland, which was Minnesota's third-largest export market just a year ago, dropped to 14th place after sales of goods to the country dropped 50 percent to $97 million. According to DEED, much of the drop can be attributed to a decline in exports of medical products.

Minnesota's largest export sector is computers and electronics, which climbed 14 percent from last year's third quarter to $980 million. Other top sectors were machinery ($768 million, up 31 percent), transportation equipment ($575 million, up 35 percent), miscellaneous products, including medical ($410 million, down 13 percent).