Utahns are on a spending binge, buying up everything from automobiles and home improvement items to furniture and apparel.

Retail sales in Utah rose to $22.2 billion in 2005, a 29 percent increase from $17.2 billion in retail sales in 2000, according to a new report by Commerce CRG. Much of that increase occurred in 2005, when retail sales across the state jumped 9.3 percent from $20.3 billion in 2004.

The rising sales are attributable to the state's growing population, increased spending and inflation, according to James Wood, director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research and author of the report.

The report noted that growth in last year's retail sales is sufficient to support more than 5 million square feet of additional retail space.

Retail sales in Salt Lake City increased $321 million from 2000 to 2005, a 16 percent rise. Half of that increase was attributed to The Gateway shopping mall in downtown Salt Lake City, the report said.

Yet the biggest retail growth in Salt Lake County occurred in West Jordan, which saw its retail sales over the same five-year period skyrocket by $358 million, or 81 percent. Jordan Landing, a 500-acre retail development off Bangerter Highway, was the primary driver in those increases, according to the report.

At 111.3 percent, American Fork posted the highest retail sales percentage increase across a five-county area that includes Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, Washington and Weber counties.

In absolute dollars, St. George ranked No. 1, showing a $478 million increase in retail sales from 2000 to 2005. The increase meant an additional $3.5 million in tax revenue benefits to St. George, the report said.

The retail sector accounts for 10 percent of gross state product, the report said, and makes up one out of every eight jobs in the state. In addition, the retail sector is the second-largest source of tax revenue for the state and local governments.

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