Florida Policy Index

Florida’s economic development strategy is increasingly focused on a new set of priorities: industrial capacity, skilled workforce development and infrastructure capable of supporting defense, maritime and advanced manufacturing.

Between 2014 and 2024, Florida’s nominal gross domestic product increased from approximately $860 billion to $1.73 trillion. In current-dollar terms, the state economy almost exactly doubled in ten years. The expansion reached well beyond hotels, theme parks and residential development. Professional and technical services, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, aerospace and the broader digital economy all became more consequential parts of Florida’s economic base.

Florida is often recognized for tourism, real estate, agriculture, and financial services. Yet one of the state's most important economic engines receives far less attention than it deserves. Manufacturing contributes approximately $90 billion annually to Florida's economy, supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the state, and generates roughly 90 percent of Florida's merchandise exports.

Florida is emerging as a critical hub in autonomous defense and the energy infrastructure required to sustain it—where megawatts, not just munitions, will define the next phase of national security.