In 1997, New Mexico's 2,640 wholesale establishments had sales of nearly $8.4 billion. In 1997, wholesale establishments in the state registered total personal incomes of $726 million. Leading sectors of wholesale trade included petroleum and petroleum products; food and food products; machinery, equipment, and supplies; lumber and construction materials; and farm products. Retail sales totaled $16 billion in 1997 and the 10,176 retail establishments had total personal incomes of $1.8 billion. Leading types of retail trading establishments included food stores, 9%; eating and drinking establishments, 29%, and automotive dealers, 14%. Wal-Mart is the largest private sector employer in the state, with 9,270 employees, and a large distribution center in Los Lunas.
New Mexico's foreign exports totaled $1.9 million in 1998, 40th in the US. Intel is a major exporter of computer chips from New Mexico.