Christmas trees outnumber people in Oregon by 2.5 million

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Thursday, December 25, 2014

Annie Law, GoLocalPDX Reporter

The number of Christmas trees cut and sold in Oregon outnumber the number of people living in the state by about 2.5 million. 

Compared to a population of roughly 3.9 million, Oregon tree harvesting totalled 6,446,506 in 2012, the last year for which US Department of Agriculture Census data is available.

The number puts Oregon's harvest millions above the next highest ranked states: North Carolina, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The number of operations with sales in Oregon was 1,250 in 2012. 

Mashable reports the number of trees in the ground in Oregon is between 40 and 50 million. That number would mean trees outnumber people in the state 12 to 1. 

In Oregon, the industry brings roughly $143 million to the state's economy. Roughly 92 percent of the conifers are shipped out of the region to markets including China, Japan, the Philippines and Guam, Oregon Forests reports.

Nationwide, we buy just over 33 million real Christmas trees, making for a $1.16 billion industry, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. People polled for the National Christmas Tree Association's consumer tracking poll spent an average of $35.30 per tree. The cost of a Christmas tree bounced between $35 and $41 between 2007 and 2013. 

Interestingly, the industry for synthetic Christmas trees generates slightly more annually. Americans spend roughly $1.19 billion on 14.7 million synthetic Christmas trees annually. 

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