Religion is a $1.2 trillion industry in the U.S., study finds

The findings of a new study investigating the socio-economic impact of faith in American society revealed that religion contributes $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy annually.

The study, led by Brian Grim from Georgetown University, revealed that religious institutions that are facilitating education, healthcare and philanthropic programs across the U.S. contribute $302.9 billion a year.

Faith-based businesses such as religious media and kosher/halal foods are worth $438.4 billion annually. Congregations spend about $413 billion dollars each year.

"In perspective, that would make religion the 15th largest national economy in the world, ahead of 180 other countries in terms of value," said Grim during the presentation of the study. "That would also make American religion larger than the global revenues of the top 10 tech companies, including Apple, Amazon and Google," he continued.

"It would also make it 50 percent larger than the six largest American oil companies' revenue on an annual basis," Grim added.

The summary noted that religious organizations have spent thrice the amount of money on social programs in the last 15 years despite the reported decline of religious affiliations in the U.S.

To conduct his research, Grim looked at the impact of soup kitchens, religiously affiliated schools and addiction recovery programs on local economies. During the course of his study, he learned that churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship mostly spend money locally.

Grim revealed that one of his motivations for conducting the study is to counter the negative perceptions of religion. He also wanted congregations and clergy to acknowledge the generosity of religious institutions involved in charitable works.

Ram Cnaan, director of Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania, hopes that the findings will help religious leaders discover more confidence in their work.

"In my many interactions with clergy and religious leaders," Cnaan said, "they always seem to lack confidence, they always sound apologetic. I wish I could have gone to every [congregation] and tell them 'Be proud, you're part of something very big and very important.'"