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 by congressional district read the publication Economic Contribution of the Forest Sector by North Carolina Congressional District, or for a specific county and year select from the list below.