Lehigh Valley GDP hits a record $47 billion thanks to manufacturing
Thanks to a growing manufacturing base, the Lehigh Valley’s gross domestic product hit $47 billion in 2021.
The latest number, which was released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, is a record for the region, according to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.
“It seems that each year a new chapter is written on the economic renaissance of the Lehigh Valley,” said Don Cunningham, LVEDC president and CEO, in a statement. “2021 was another record-setting year with the region’s GDP increasing by almost $5 billion and manufacturing taking the top spot as the Lehigh Valley’s largest economic sector.”
Manufacturing had an economic output of $8.4 billion, making it the largest contributor to the GDP, which measures total market value of the goods and services produced in a region over a year. That sector made up about 18% of the Lehigh Valley’s private sector output, while the national average for manufacturing was 12%.
LVEDC said manufacturing overtook finance, insurance and real estate, which had an output of $8.1 billion, as the Valley’s top contributor.
The Valley’s top four sectors were still within about $2.5 billion of each other, indicating a balanced economy. Rounding it out were educational services, health care and social assistance at $6.9 billion and professional and business services at $5.9 billion.
Transportation and warehousing was eighth-highest at $2.7 billion, behind information and retail, both at $3 billion, and wholesale trade at $3.7 billion.
For its statistical area, the BEA included a region that included Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, along with Warren County, New Jersey. Lehigh and Northampton had the lion’s share of the output at $40.6 billion.
The Lehigh Valley’s private sector output is the 65th largest in the nation and is bigger than the states of Alaska, Vermont and Wyoming. If the Lehigh Valley were a country, its economy would be the 88th largest in the world, according to LVEDC.
The private sector economic output has recovered from the adjusted figure of $42.5 billion during the first year of the COVID pandemic in 2020. After factoring in inflation, the GDP rose by 6.4% from 2020 to 2021.
The Lehigh Valley’s private sector output has increased at a compound annual rate of 1.4% over the last five years. Economic sectors that saw outsized growth include manufacturing at a rate of 3.6% and professional, scientific and technical services by 5.1%.