Thanks to its ideal growing conditions and other factors, California grows 80% of the world’s almonds and accounts for 99% of domestic supply.1 This creates a comparative advantage, which in turn creates economic value, not just for farmers but for California as a whole, by creating jobs and strengthening the state’s economy.
According to a study from the University of California’s Agricultural Issues Center, the California almond community supports California’s economic well-being by generating more than 110,000 jobs statewide. Of those jobs, 102,500 are located within California’s Central Valley, the region where almonds are grown and an area long associated with high unemployment.2 To put that into perspective, that’s about as many people as General Motors employs throughout all of North America.
These jobs are generated across multiple industries resulting in more than $19.6 billion gross revenue across all industries in California, adding about $9.2 billion dollars to the size of the state’s total economy.3