In honor of National Dairy Month, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) launched an updated version of its economic impact tool, Dairy Delivers®, which measures the combined impact of the dairy products industry at the national, state and Congressional district levels across the United States. Updated for the first time since 2017, Dairy Delivers® is an analysis of how the production and marketing of all dairy products—milk, ice cream, cheese, butter, yogurt and cultured products, and ingredients like protein powders and whey—positively affect the U.S. economy. Data include direct and indirect measures of output, wages, jobs, state and national GDP, and contributions to taxes at the local, state and national levels.
Overall, the dairy industry supports the U.S. economy in the following ways:
- Contributes 1% to national GDP
- Adds $620 billion in total economic impact
- Supports more than 3 million total jobs
- Provides a $64.5 billion contribution to federal, state and local taxes (not including sales taxes paid by consumers)
- Generates $38 billion in direct wages for workers in dairy industry
Users of Dairy Delivers® will learn how dairy products contribute directly to the U.S. economy, including:
- Milk: Adds $51.4 billion in direct economic impact and supports 64,400 dairy industry jobs
- Ice Cream: Adds $11 billion in direct economic impact and supports 26,100 dairy industry jobs
- Cheese: Adds $50.9 billion in direct economic impact and supports 52,200 dairy industry jobs
- Yogurt & Cultured Products: Adds $5.5 billion in direct economic impact and supports 6,900 dairy industry jobs
- Dairy Ingredients: Adds $14.1 billion in direct economic impact and supports 9,300 dairy industry jobs
Using IDFA’s Dairy Delivers® website at www.idfa.org/dairydelivers, users can click on an interactive map of the United States to learn how dairy impacts their community. Just select an area of the country that interests you—options include the full United States, any of the 50 states, or any of the 435 Congressional districts. Once you click on the state and/or district that interests you, select View/Print to generate your own detailed fact sheet or economic impact report.
