Manufacturing Economy Monitor

Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Products Manufacturing in Virginia

Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Products manufacturing added $18.9B of value to Virginia's economy in 2024, down 3.3% year over year. That ranks Virginia 4th of 51 states and DC for this industry. It is 36.8% of Virginia's manufacturing output. Nationally, food, beverage, and tobacco products is a $355B industry (the 2nd-largest of the 19 manufacturing subsectors), per the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Output and rank

  • Value added: $18.9B in 2024, #4 of 51 states and DC for this industry.
  • Growth: -3.3% year over year.
  • Share of Virginia's manufacturing: 36.8% of the state's total manufacturing value added.
  • National context: food, beverage, and tobacco products is a $355B industry nationally, #2 of the 19 manufacturing subsectors (-1.6% year over year).
  • Classification: nondurable goods manufacturing (BEA subsector 311FT).

Frequently asked questions

  • How big is the food, beverage, and tobacco products industry in Virginia? Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Products added $18.9B of value in Virginia in 2024, ranking the state 4th of 51 for this industry, per BEA state GDP-by-industry data.
  • Is food, beverage, and tobacco products growing in Virginia? Virginia's food, beverage, and tobacco products output shrank 3.3% year over year to 2024. The chart above traces the full annual series since 1997.
  • What share of Virginia's manufacturing is food, beverage, and tobacco products? Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Products is 36.8% of Virginia's total manufacturing value added in 2024, per BEA state GDP-by-industry data.

About this data

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (public domain). National quarterly values are seasonally adjusted annual rates. Corporate-profit industry detail reflects inventory valuation adjustment without capital consumption adjustment, per NIPA table 6.16D conventions.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.