Bath Iron Works Accounts for 1.6% of Maine GDP, Not 17%
Updated
Updated · Press Herald · Jul 6
Bath Iron Works Accounts for 1.6% of Maine GDP, Not 17%
1 articles · Updated · Press Herald · Jul 6
Summary
$1.28 billion in value added—not 17% of the state economy—is the GDP-comparable measure for Bath Iron Works, equal to 1.6% of Maine GDP, the fact brief said.
The inflated 17% claim appears to stem from a 2022 BIW release citing 17% of Maine’s “production GDP” in 2021, not 17% of total state GDP.
$2.55 billion was BIW’s estimated 2023 statewide economic output, but output includes supplier purchases and employee spending, unlike GDP, which excludes intermediate inputs to avoid double-counting.
BIW said it employed 6,722 workers in 2023, about 12.4% of Maine’s manufacturing workforce, underscoring the shipyard’s large role even as the broader GDP claim was overstated.