By the Numbers: Manufacturing in 2012
Posted July 5, 2013 & filed under References
Manufacturing is still considered to be one of the largest industries in the world. As of 2012, the manufacturing industry contributed $1.87 trillion to the US economy, making up 11.9% of the total GDP. Over 17.2 million workers, or 1 in 6 in the private sector, are directly employed in the manufacturing industry. With these numbers of workers in the US, combined with countless others all across the globe, the amount of goods that were churned out last year is staggering.
To demonstrate the full potential of the industry, check out the following list that shows, as of 2012, the number of products manufactured. Some are exclusive to America, while others are worldwide totals.
As of 2012 the total number of products manufactured in a year are:
500 million Twinkies: At 150 calories per piece, that’s 75 billion calories. Although Hostess temporarily stopped production of these tasty treats due to bankruptcy, the company was bought out for $410 million by Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co.
19 billion Lego bricks: If you stacked the number of these little bricks that are manufactured every year on top of one another they would reach halfway to the moon. The process of making these bricks is so precise that only 18 out of every 1 million produced are considered defective.
84 million cars: The auto industry may be recovering in the US, but China still leads the global production of automobiles with 19 million manufactured every year. The United States clocks in at 2nd place with over 10 million cars.
5.5 million guns: With a standing US army of 1.4 million — plus about 850,000 reserve forces – that is enough guns to arm every soldier about 2 and a half times.
3,960,000 tons of plastic bags: Not the best items for the environment, but a booming product for manufacturers. Consumers in the United States use approximately 1 million bags every minute, and the average person can rack up about 60 of them in just four trips to the Supermarket.
2.2 million baseballs: As one of the United States’ most popular sports, this number may not seem that surprising. What is surprising is that 1.8 million of them are used by the MLB, while the other 4.2 million are allotted to minor leagues and the general public.
8.4 billion monetary notes: The US treasury has been furiously printing money to help bring us out of the recession, at a cost of about 8.7 cents per note.
5.5 trillion cigarettes: That is enough for every person in the world to smoke 2.5 cigarettes a day. Although it’s doubtful that smokers could limit themselves to that.
21.9 billion Hershey’s Kisses: Since there are only two Hershey factories in the world (both in the US), that’s 10.95 billion per factory.
And finally:
130 million babies: That’s a lot of babies manufactured, I mean born, each year. In fact, that equates to about 4.1 babies per second. Don’t ask what .1 of a baby looks like.
By Kevin Withers
