Florida’s green industry generated nearly $42 billion in total economic impact, according to a new analysis from Farm Credit of Central Florida.
The study places the industry’s total output at $41.9 billion, reflecting the combined economic activity of the businesses that make up the sector and the ripple effects created through supply chains and household spending.
The report uses Impact Analysis for Planning (IMPLAN), an economic modeling system that measures direct, indirect, and induced impacts across nursery production, landscape services, florists, wholesalers, and related sectors. It finds that the industry continues to grow in step with Florida’s population gains and construction activity. The analysis is based on 2023 data, the most recent year available.
Output has more than doubled since 2015, a trend the report attributes to increases in the number of operating firms, expanded service demand in both residential and commercial markets, and strong in-state recirculation of spending tied to landscape and horticultural services.
The industry supported 279,041 jobs statewide in 2023, a 4.8 percent increase from 2020 and nearly 20 percent more than in 2015.
Landscape services represent the single largest share, with more than 122,000 direct workers, followed by greenhouse and nursery production, which employs nearly 27,000. The report notes that the landscape sector alone has added roughly 30,000 workers since 2011, tracking with Florida’s population increase of 1.83 million residents since 2020 and the state’s status as one of the nation’s top homebuilding markets.
Total labor income tied to the green industry reached $13.8 billion last year, with more than $7.6 billion paid directly to workers within the sector. Labor income has more than doubled since 2015. Value added, a measure comparable to Gross Domestic Product, totaled $24.2 billion, up nearly 50 percent from the previous study in 2020.
The analysis also points to structural growth across multiple sectors.
Since 2011, Florida has added more than 2,500 green-industry businesses, led by landscaping firms. While the number of nurseries has declined slightly, overall employment in that segment has increased.
Farm Credit of Central Florida produced the study in collaboration with the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association, marking the latest in a series of economic assessments dating back to 2015.