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Contact: Joanna Brown – MADE X MTNS Brand and Communications Manager
joanna@madexmtns.com
(828) 253-2834 x 32

A healthy outdoor recreation economy proves essential to North Carolina’s growth, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Current economic data tells a powerful story of job growth, community investment, and a healthy outdoor recreation economy prior to Helene, which remains essential to its recovery.

NORTH CAROLINA (March 16, 2026) – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has released its latest economic data exhibiting outdoor recreation’s essential impact on North Carolina’s economy. According to the latest data from the BEA Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, outdoor recreation created $17.8 billion in value added for North Carolina, accounted for 2.1% of North Carolina’s GDP and included 155,462 jobs in 2024. According to newly revised data in the current release, the outdoor recreation economy in North Carolina has grew 4.3% since 2023. 

“The latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis reinforces what communities across North Carolina already know—outdoor recreation is a powerful driver of economic growth and community vibrancy,” said Amy Allison, Director of the NC Outdoor Economy Office. “From the mountains to the coast, this $17.8 billion sector is not only strengthening our state’s economy—it’s helping rural communities thrive, attracting talent to our state, supporting small businesses and reinforcing the quality of life that makes North Carolina such a special place to live, work, and explore.”

According to Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, at a national level, these new figures showed continued year-over-year growth in the outdoor recreation economy, generating $1.3 trillion in economic output (2.4% of GDP), comprising 3.2% of U.S. employees and accounting for 5.2 million jobs in 2024. The outdoor recreation economy continues to surpass industries such as farming, mining, and utilities. Similarly in North Carolina, the current data shows growth in all categories of value added, employment, and rates of compensation.

North Carolina has maintained its year-over-year strength in core outdoor recreation sectors, supported by an interconnected network of land management, economic development, entrepreneurial support, business alliances, conservation, tourism, user group advocacy and more. This current data release marks the year that included the onset of Hurricane Helene and its devastating immediate impacts, and the beginning of the region’s long-term recovery. The benefit of this pre-Helene data is that it provides a baseline to measure the storm’s lasting impact.

The consistency of these annual reports, despite the short and long term challenges of a significant natural disaster, signals a clear and continual return on investing in our natural spaces, and their necessity for public health and wellbeing. It also shows how vital it is to have strong networks of stewardship, infrastructure management and business support in place to ensure our outdoor spaces are effectively managed and repaired in times of crisis, while also supporting continued entrepreneurship, small business growth, and workforce quality of life. Communities across North Carolina are leaning on their outdoor assets to continue to tell the stories of resilience, and to look toward a promising future.

The recent data shows that, in 2024:

• • • • North Carolina remains ranked 11th among all states in regards to outdoor recreation’s value-added economic impact. 
      • North Carolina remains ranked 8th among all states in employment (3.0%).
      • North Carolina is ranked 11th in outdoor recreation employee compensation and 19th in compensation growth.

See the full national and state report, and visit madexmtns.com for more information about MADE X MTNS’s mission to grow the outdoor economy and catalyze rural development across Western North Carolina.

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About MADE X MTNS Partnership

The MADE X MTNS (Made By Mountains) Partnership is working to expand the outdoor industry and economy across North Carolina’s Appalachian region and catalyze rural development by growing outdoor businesses, building outdoor communities and amplifying outdoor culture. For more information, visit madexmtns.com or @madexmtns