Despite several mill closures and increased uncertainty in housing and wood product markets, the forest sector continued to play a crucial role in North Carolina’s economy in 2024.
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Direct Economic Impact: In 2024, North Carolina's forest sector—including forestry and logging operations, sawmills, furniture mills, and pulp and paper industries—directly employed about 66,508 people. This represented a payroll of nearly $4.8 billion, and a value-added (gross state) product of about $7.2 billion. Regarding supply chain activity, the forest sector contributed about $25.4 billion in industry output, accounting for nearly 2% of the total statewide economic output in 2024.
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Total Economic Contributions: When accounting for direct, indirect, and induced effects, the forest sector’s total contribution to the North Carolina economy reached about $41.7 billion in industry output. This supported about 140,919 full-time and part-time jobs with a total payroll of about $9.9 billion.
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Year-Over-Year Comparison: Compared to 2023, total economic output in 2024 rose by 3.1%, while total employment dropped by 1.9% (representing 2,700 fewer jobs). Although forestry and secondary paper and paperboard industries saw minimal job gains, solid wood product industries lost about 2,400 jobs compared to the previous year.
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Value-Added Production: The total value-added production, equivalent to the gross domestic product, rose 1.3% to about $16.4 billion. This growth occurred predominantly within the forestry and secondary wood products industries.
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Sector Ranking: In 2024, the forest sector ranked second among manufacturing sectors in the state, slightly behind the food manufacturing sector.
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Economic Multipliers: Through economic multipliers, every job created in the forest sector resulted in an additional 1.12 jobs within North Carolina. Furthermore, every dollar invested in the sector contributed an additional 64 cents to the broader state economy.
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Tax Revenue: North Carolina's forest sector directly generated about $59.3 million in county taxes, $197.9 million in state taxes, and $1.1 billion in federal taxes. Compared to 2023, total tax collection from the sector decreased by 2%.
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International Trade: International exports from North Carolina’s forest sector totaled about $1.6 billion, a 7.3% decrease from 2023.
Photo by Robert Bardon
| Contribution | Industry Operation | Employment[2] (jobs) |
Labor Income[3] (million $) |
Gross State Product[4] (million $) |
Industry Output[5] (million $) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct Contribution[6] | Forestry operations |
480 |
25.20 |
37.42 |
39.42 |
| Logging |
4,392 |
226.14 |
237.42 |
312.07 |
|
| Primary solid wood mills[7] |
5,908 |
414.76 |
726.54 |
2,878.47 |
|
| Secondary solid wood mills[8] |
39,249 |
2,521.15 |
3,704.30 |
11,136.94 |
|
| Primary paper and paperboard mills |
3,872 |
446.85 |
815.58 |
3,509.47 |
|
| Secondary paper and paperboard mills |
12,607 |
1,122.12 |
1,710.34 |
7,558.91 |
|
| Total |
66,508 |
4,756.22 |
7,231.60 |
25,435.28 |
|
| Total Contribution[9] | Forestry operations |
587 |
31.60 |
50.04 |
60.10 |
| Logging |
5,558 |
294.63 |
369.27 |
532.23 |
|
| Primary solid wood mills |
14,729 |
1,038.24 |
1,811.85 |
4,801.67 |
|
| Secondary solid wood mills |
72,438 |
4,822.56 |
7,777.30 |
18,372.70 |
|
| Primary paper and paperboard mills |
14,095 |
1,193.28 |
2,133.48 |
5,858.19 |
|
| Secondary paper and paperboard mills |
33,512 |
2,583.51 |
4,280.18 |
12,112.22 |
|
| Total |
140,919 |
9,963.82 |
16,422.12 |
41,737.11 |
|
| Change in Total Contribution from 2023 | Forestry operations |
17.5% |
18.9% |
17.9% |
14.7% |
| Logging |
−2.2% |
1.0% |
−1.6% |
14.0% |
|
| Primary solid wood mills |
−2.6% |
−1.5% |
−7.4% |
−4.0% |
|
| Secondary solid wood mills |
−2.7% |
1.6% |
0.7% |
2.6% |
|
| Primary paper and paperboard mills |
−7.3% |
−6.9% |
−3.3% |
−1.0% |
|
| Secondary paper and paperboard mills |
2.6% |
6.6% |
9.3% |
8.6% |
|
| Total |
−1.9% |
1.4% |
1.3% |
3.1% |
[1] Economic contribution numbers, based on multi-industry contribution analysis, are reported in 2024 dollars. The industry contribution analysis approach from IMPLAN Online (2024 model) was employed, and the IMPLAN sectors included 15, 16, 19 (partial), 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 348, 349, 350, 353, 354, and 356. ↲
[2] Employment includes both full-time and part-time jobs. ↲
[3] Labor income includes all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income. ↲
[4] Gross State Product (value added) is the difference between industry output and the cost of intermediate inputs. It consists of compensation of employees, taxes on production and imports (minus subsidies), and gross operating surplus. ↲
[5] Industry output is the total annual value of production by industry. ↲
[6] Direct contribution is a series of production changes or expenditures made by producers and consumers as a result of an activity. ↲
[7] Primary mills, such as sawmills and pulp mills, consume wood in a round or log form before producing a value-added product. ↲
[8] Secondary mills, such as furniture and paper mills, use wood-based products to produce value-added products. ↲
[9] Total contribution is the sum of direct, indirect, and induced contribution effects generated by the sector. ↲
Publication date: Feb. 24, 2026
AG-844
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