Economic Impact Data
The forest sector in North Carolina— including forestry and logging operations, sawmills, furniture mills, and pulp and paper industries— is a major contributor to North Carolina’s economic well being. The total economic contribution in industry output to the state’s economy in 2017 was $32.8 billion, supporting about 150,000 full- and part-time jobs with a payroll of $8.2 billion. In 2017, the forest sector directly contributed $20 billion in industry output, just over 2% of the state-wide economic output. So how has this changed over the years? For the North Carolina’s Forest Sector…
in 2013…
- directly contributed $18.5 billion in output and employed 70,300 people, with a payroll of $3.8 billion;
- directly generated $912 million in local, state, and federal taxes;
- contributed $10.9 billion to gross state product;
- had a total contribution, which included direct, indirect, and induced effects, of $29.4 billion in industry output to the North Carolina economy, supporting over 145,000 full- and part-time jobs with a payroll of $7.36 billion;
- generated 1.06 jobs in North Carolina for every job created in the forest sector;
- contributed an additional 59 cents on average to the rest of the North Carolina economy for every dollar generated in the forest sector; and
- had $1.47 billion in international exports.
in 2017…
- directly contributed $20 billion in industry output and employed over 71,600 people with a payroll of $4 billion;
- directly generated $1.1 billion in local, state and federal taxes;
- contributed $12.7 billion to gross state product;
- had a total contribution, which included direct, indirect, and induced effects, of $32.8 billion in industry output to the North Carolina economy, supporting over 150,000 full- and part-time jobs with a payroll of $8.2 billion;
- generated 1.11 jobs in North Carolina for every job created in the forest sector;
- contributed an additional 64 cents on average to the rest of the North Carolina economy for every dollar generated in the forest sector; and
- had $1.78 billion in international exports.
For a more complete comparison between North Carolina’s Forest Sectors in 2013 and 2017 read the following publications
- 2013 – North Carolina’s Forests and Forest Products Industry by the Numbers, 2013
- 2017 – Economic Contribution of the Forest Sector in North Carolina, 2017
To learn more about the North Carolina’s Forest Sector economic contributions for a specific county and year select from the list below.