People taking advantage of Utah’s great outdoors contribute a huge chunk to the state’s economy, according to a new report released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The agency found outdoor recreation in Utah accounted for a full 3.3 percent of Utah’s total economic output in 2017 — about $5.5 billion. Tourism’s total contribution to the state economy was $9 billion that year.
Those directly employed by the outdoor recreation industry totaled 75,143, according to the report, accounting for 4.9 percent of all jobs in the state. Those employees earned nearly $14.3 million.
Outdoor recreation was defined by the bureau as boating/fishing, RVing, snow activities, amusement parks/water parks, festivals/sporting events, game areas (golf or tennis) along with any other outdoor activities that don’t show up in the major categories. Utah’s snow sports, such as skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling, accounted for $549.2 million in economic contribution in 2017 — second only to Colorado in the U.S.
Nationwide, the bureau found outdoor recreation contributed to about $778 billion in gross economic output in 2017, which was about 2.2 percent of the entire U.S. gross domestic product that year. It also led to 5.2 million jobs nationwide. Although Utah’s gross economic impact from outdoor activities ranked 24th among the states, its contribution as a percentage of GDP was ranked eighth.
The map above shows the state-by-state economic impact of outdoor recreation as a percentage of GDP.