Over 23,000 jobs. Over $2 billion dollars in economic activity. Nearly $900 million in tax revenue. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the economic impact of beer in Washington State. Today we share news of a new study showing the remarkable impact of the beer industry on our national and local economies.
A startling study released today shows the enormous economic impact of beer and the booming beer business, including a state-by-state breakdown. The Beer Serves America study, released jointly by The Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), shows that nationwide the beer industry generates $253 billion in economic activity and is responsible for 1.75 million jobs.
Washington is now home to over 250 breweries, a number that continues to rise. So many local breweries are hiring new employees that the Washington Beer Blog recently began publishing brewery job postings. Beyond that, new beer-focused bars and bottleshops open every week. Not to mention Washington’s booming hop farming industry, which is tasked with providing more, and more-interesting, hops to the nation’s 3,700 craft breweries. Craft beer is an economic rocket ride to the stars!
Beer in Washington
- In Washington State beer is responsible for over 23,000 jobs (approximately 1,900 brewery jobs, 3,500 wholesale jobs, and 18,000 retail jobs).
- In terms of wages, the industry is responsible for over $875 million ($875,034,100).
- The beer industry’s total economic output was over $2.7 billion ($2,764,594,400).
- Washington’s beer industry contributed another 1.4 billion in induced economic impact in tangential industries such as packaging, agriculture, transportation and so on.
- Business and personal taxes generated by the beer industry equaled over $860 million ($860,466,300) federal and state/local combined.
- Consumption taxes equaled over $225 million ($225,827,400) federal and state/local combined.
Economic impact figures, tax contributions and job data for each state can be found at www.BeerServesAmerica.org.
National Numbers
The report concludes:
- Overall, the beer industry contributes about $252.6 billion in economic output which is equal to about 1.5 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
- Brewers and beer importers directly employ 49,576 Americans. More than 70 percent of brewing jobs are linked to large and mid-sized brewers and beer importers.
- The number of distributor jobs has increased by more than 20 percent in the last decade, to more than 131,307.
- Suppliers to the brewing industry – enterprises that manufacture bottles and cans, cardboard case boxes, brewing equipment or marketing displays, for example – generate more than $83 billion in economic activity and are responsible for more than 383,190 jobs alone.
- More than $48.5 billion in tax revenue is generated by the production and sale of beer and other malt beverages. This is equal to nearly 40 percent of the retail price paid for beer by consumers.
About the Study
The Beer Serves America study was compiled by an independent economics firm, John Dunham & Associates. It is the most comprehensive analysis of the industry available, using data collected directly from private companies, Dun & Bradstreet, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.