CRN: Dietary supplements industry contributes $122 billion, 750K jobs to US economy

The report, commissioned by the Council for Responsible Nutrition and produced by John Dunham and Associates, found that dietary supplement manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, wholesalers, direct sellers, and retailers directly employed 383,230 Americans in 2016. When indirect and induced impacts are taken into account, the dietary supplement industry is responsible for 754,645 jobs, says the report.

“The dietary supplement industry is a robust industry, and this new economic analysis further demonstrates the important and positive impact our industry has on people’s lives,”​ said Steve Mister, CRN President & CEO.

“From a political standpoint, we didn’t have the data to sufficiently flex our muscles on Capitol Hill and say to the regulators and politicians that this is an industry that’s very important to the local community,” ​Mister told us. “If you want to introduce measures that stifle innovation or reduce access to these products, then understand the impact that this has on the local communities.”​

The report was commissioned at the start of 2016, with a deadline set for this month so that the organization could have it ready for its annual day on the Hill today, where more than 60 dietary supplement industry executives from 40 companies will share this information with elected officials.

“We urge all companies in the industry to do the same on national, state and local levels,” ​said Mister.

The numbers​

According to the report, the dietary supplement industry contributes $121.6 billion to the US economy, creates over 750,000 jobs nationwide, and pays $38.4 billion in wages. Additionally, the industry contributes nearly $15 billion in business taxes—federal and state—not including taxes collected on product sales. The taxes break down to $5.75 billion in state and local taxes and $9.2 billion in federal taxes.

Results of the economic impact report are accessible on a public website and provide data on a national basis, as well as state-by-state and by congressional district.

The website allows visitors to break down the numbers by state. California, for example, accounts for $23 billion of the $122 billion total, with 50,000 jobs in the Golden State. New York accounts for $16 billion and 31,000 jobs, and New Jersey’s output is $11 billion (and another 15,000 jobs). Utah accounts for $8.2 billion and 11,600 jobs.

For Illinois, home of industry critic Sen Dick Durbin, the dietary supplements industry contributes $3.5 billion, 12,900 jobs, and almost $440 million in taxes.   

A trifecta​

Mr. Mister added: “With the completion of this new report, CRN can demonstrate a trifecta of data about dietary supplements and the people who take them. Here’s what we know: more than 150 million Americans ​take dietary supplements for the health benefits they provide​​; supplements offer tremendous ​potential for societal health care cost savings​​; and the industry makes ​vital contributions to the economy at large​. What’s good for your health is also very good for America’s wallet.”​

Methodology​

The statistics cited are based on the total overall economic impact from the industry, which combines direct contributions (those that are solely attributable to the dietary supplement industry), indirect contributions (those that result from dietary supplement industry firms purchasing goods and services from other industries) and induced effects (which economists refer to as the multiplier effect of an activity—in this case, resulting from the dietary supplement industry).

The report defines the industry as the production of dietary supplement products plus dietary supplement wholesaling and retailing. The latter includes traditional brick-and-mortar sales as well as sales from direct sales companies like Amway and Nu Skin.

To read more about the full methodology employed, please click HERE​.