September 6, 2002

U.S. floriculture and nursery crop sales, based on growers' wholesale receipts, are projected at $14 billion in 2002, a 1-percent increase from 2001.

Summary

U.S. floriculture and nursery crop sales, based on growers' wholesale receipts, are projected at $14 billion in 2002, a 1-percent increase from 2001. This growth by the industry is in line with a weaker U.S. economy. Floriculture and nursery sales correspond largely to growth in key economic indicators: new private housing units completed, the number of U.S. households, and disposable income. Trade is an additional factor that determines domestic production. Increased imports of cut flowers influence domestic cut flower production and sales, while imports of other floriculture and nursery crops do not have a comparable impact on domestic growers.

The $14 billion in floriculture and nursery sales in 2002 are the sum of $9.2 billion in nursery crop sales and $4.8 billion in floriculture crop sales. Total floriculture and nursery sales are up from $9.3 billion in 1992, a 50-percent jump in a decade. Over the same period, nursery crop sales increased 46 percent while floriculture crops rose 58 percent. These 2002 estimates correspond to $129 per U.S. household in floriculture and nursery sales, $85 in nursery sales, and $44 in floriculture sales.

The complete text will be available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/flo/ about 1 week following this summary release.

ERS, the Economic Research Service of USDA, has resumed its floriculture report, which was last published in 1999. It is now available twice a year, as an electronic outlook report and a yearbook, both available online. These reports provide current intelligence and forecast the effects of changing conditions in the U.S. floriculture and nursery crop sector. Topics include production, consumption, trade, prices received, and more.

This report provides current intelligence and forecasts the effects of changing conditions in the U.S. floriculture and environmental horticulture sector. Topics include production, consumption, trade, prices received, and more.