Economic Impact of the Retail Industry

• In 2018, retail sales hit a record $6 trillion in sales, which is a 50% increase compared to the record low in 2009, i.e. $4.06 trillion.
• Retail represents one-third of the world's GDP.
• There were 3,793,692 retail establishments, 29 million jobs, $822.5 billion generated in labor income, and a contribution of $1.2 trillion to the GDP of the retail industry in the US, as of 2012. These statistics represent the direct impact of the retail industry on the US economy.
• The total national impact, which includes direct, indirect, and induced impact, of the retail industry on the US economy in 2012 was 42 million jobs, $1.58 trillion in labor income, and $2.59 trillion added to the GDP.
• Food preparation and serving related occupations represented 10.9 million, sales and related occupations represented 10.8 million, logistics and freight transportation occupations represented 4.9 million, management, business operations, office and administrative occupations represented 4.3 million, building, cleaning, maintenance, installation, and repair occupations represented 2.6 million, Health care, personal care and service occupations represented 2.3 million, finance, insurance, and real estate occupations represented 1.8 million, technology and IT related occupations represented 0.8 million, while all other occupations represented 3.5 million jobs out of the total 42 million jobs created by the retail industry.
• The retail industry is defined to include NAICS codes that start with 44 and 45, and code 722.
• The indirect and induced impacts of the retail industry include 4.9 million and 8.1 million jobs, $0.3 million and $0.45 million in labor income, and $0.5 million and $0.8 million in GDP contributions respectively.