The U.S. meat and poultry industry accounts for $1.02 trillion in total economic output, or 5.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according a new economic impact analysis conducted by John Dunham and Associates for the Meat Institute.
The meat and poultry industry is responsible for 5.4 million jobs and $257 billion in wages, the report found. An estimated 527,019 people work in production and packing, importing operations, sales, packaging and direct distribution of meat and poultry products. Wholesaling directly employs an estimated 232,418 individuals in all 50 states, and 1.11 million employees’ retail jobs depend on the sale of meat and poultry products to the public. All totaled, the meat and poultry industry (packers, processors, wholesalers and retailers) directly employs 1.9 million people, paying $71.63 billion in wages and benefits.
The report also found that approximately two million full-time equivalent jobs are created in firms that supply goods and services to the meat and poultry industry, including in industries as broad as real estate services, trucking and container manufacturing. An additional 1.57 million jobs depend on the re-spending of wages by meat, poultry and supplier industry employees.
Furthermore, the analysis calculates the industry’s contribution to the public finances of communities. Traditional direct taxes paid by meat and poultry industry firms and their employees provide more than $108.42 billion in revenue to the federal, state and local governments. Meanwhile, meat and poultry consumption generates $3.26 billion in state sales taxes.
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