The video games market in the US is growing at a far greater pace than the wider economy, and is adding ‘real growth’ to the US economy, The Entertainment Software Association reports, according to Next-Gen.

Stephen E. Siwek’s ‘Video Games in the 21st Century: Economic Contributions of the US Entertainment Industry’ report claims that the US games industry is showed growth in excess of 17 per cent on an annual basis between 2003 and 2006 – far higher than the overall US economic growth of just four per cent.

The industry also contributes $3.8 billion to the US gross domestic product, with the report stating: “Unlike many other industries, the US entertainment software industry disproportionately adds to real growth in the US economy.”

The US games sector employs over 24,000 people, with 10,000 working at publishers and 14,000 at developers. California is the largest employer in the sector, claiming 9,000 workers

Gaming as a whole boasted a retail value of over $7 billion in 2005 – in 1996 this figure was just $2.6 billion. Unit sales have grown from 74.1 billion to over 250 billion in the same time period.