Beer industry contributes $200 billion to economy
By Noah Davis • Apr 8th, 2009 • Category: Beer News
We might be in a recession but the beer can’t be blamed. According to a new study, America’s beer industry — consisting of brewers, beer importers, beer distributors, brewer suppliers, and retailers — “directly and indirectly contributes more than $198 billion annually to the U.S. economy.” (Then again, it was commissioned by the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, so perhaps it’s not the most unbiased of studys.)
Additionally, the sale of brews creates 1.9 million jobs.
The beer industry directly employs more than one million people, paying $28 billion in wages. Beer sales help support roughly 888,000 retail jobs, including those at supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, bars, stadiums, and other outlets and generate more than $25 billion in economic activity in agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
With all the talk of raising beer taxes, we imagine the NBWA will use this new survey to discourage legislators from doing pursuing such measures further.
