Charleston County continues to pull away from the rest of the state, with manufacturers, a growing service sector and a thriving seaport combining to create South Carolina’s largest economy, a federal report shows.
The value of all goods and services produced in Charleston County — a metric known as gross domestic product, or GDP — reached nearly $27.6 billion in 2018, the most recent data available, according to the first report measuring the figure at the county level by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
That’s about $131.5 million bigger than Greenville County, which was ranked No. 2 in South Carolina with a GDP of $27.4 billion.
Charleston County’s economy topped the Upstate manufacturing center for the first time in 2017 and widened the gap the following year, the report shows.
“The Lowcountry is booming,” Frank Hefner, an economics professor at the College of Charleston, told the “Carolina Business Review” television show. That’s despite a severe labor shortage — 1.7 percent unemployment in Charleston County in November — and a lack of affordable housing, he added.
As a measure of how big the state’s most productive economies have become, Charleston and Greenville now account for more than one-fourth of the state’s GDP of $207.2 billion.
Charleston County’s economy has been driven by investments and new jobs from manufacturers such as Boeing Co. and Mercedes-Benz Vans as well as a thriving tourism industry that attracts more than 7 million visitors each year accounting for an $8 billion impact.
The Port of Charleston — which has set cargo records for three consecutive years — drives the economy both at home and throughout the state, with a recent University of South Carolina study showing its annual impact statewide tops $63.4 billion.
“We expect to continue weathering uncertainty in the world economy, but our strong position in the Southeast and proximity to a booming consumer market will drive growth,” said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the State Ports Authority.
Richland County, home to the University of South Carolina and state government, was third at $23.3 billion. Spartanburg County, home to a BMW manufacturing plant the employs 10,000 people, was fourth at nearly $13.5 billion.
Horry County, home to tourism destination Myrtle Beach and its service- and retail-dependent economy, rounded out the top five with a GDP of $11.2 billion.
Berkeley County, where Swedish automaker Volvo Cars opened its only U.S. plant in 2018, ranked No. 8 with an economy topping $7 billion. Dorchester County was No. 19 with a GDP of about $3 billion.
Most of South Carolina’s 49 counties experienced an expanding economy in 2018, with the statewide average growth at 2.6 percent. Six counties saw their economies contract. Florence County’s economy suffered the biggest loss at 24 percent — falling from $1.6 billion in 2017 to $1.2 billion the next year.
Nationally, Los Angeles County had the largest economy at $710.9 billion.
Reach David Wren at 843-937-5550 or on Twitter at @David_Wren_