U.S. agribusiness leads in the contribution of value added in the sector in North America, as detailed in a report by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In 2022, the U.S. industry generated more than half of the value added present in the region’s exports. On the other hand, Canada and Mexico also presented outstanding figures. Nearly 80% of their food exports included high levels of domestic value added.
On a global scale, agribusiness contributes significantly to the production of the economy and represents 20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in emerging countries.
In North America, Canada and Mexico exhibited higher vertical specialization rates than the United States (about 20 percent versus 11.5 percent).
Much of the inputs used by their food processing companies come from the U.S. agribusiness sector.
U.S. Agribusiness
Agriculture, food and related industries contributed 5.6 percent to U.S. GDP. They also generated 10.4% of employment in the country. On the other hand, U.S. consumers spend, on average, 12.9% of their household budgets on food.
In terms of federal government outlays, nutrition assistance stands out. This program far outpaces others related to agriculture and food.
In 2022, the goods and services industries of China, Germany and the United States led the contribution to the value added of global food and beverage exports. Each country contributed approximately 9%.
This value added came mainly from three sectors. First, their agri-food industries accounted for 7.6% of world exports. In addition, agricultural activities contributed 4.7%. Finally, business services contributed 3.2%. These services include key areas such as IT, engineering, advertising, packaging and technical activities used throughout the supply chain.
In 2023, agriculture, food and related industries contributed approximately $1.530 trillion to U.S. GDP, representing 5.6%. Of this amount, U.S. agricultural production contributed $203.5 billion, approximately 0.7% of U.S. GDP.
However, the total contribution of agriculture to GDP is more than 0.7%. This is because agriculture-related sectors depend on agricultural inputs to generate value added to the economy.