The US beer industry, which includes brewers, beer importers, beer distributors, brewer suppliers and retailers, directly and indirectly adds about $246.6bn annually to the US economy, according to the Beer Institute.
The American beer industry includes 2,851 brewing establishments, 3,728 distributors and 576,353 retailers.
According to the study, the beer industry directly employs nearly 1.1 million people, paying nearly $31.8 billion in wages and benefits, among brewers, distributors and retailers, such as supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, bars and stadiums.
Indirectly, the industry generates nearly $153.2bn in economic activity in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, transportation and other sectors.
MillerCoors CEO and Beer Institute chairman Tom Long said, "Beer serves America at virtually every level of the economy, from the two million employees, to the small businesses in middle class communities, and the important tax revenues at the local, state and national levels."
