Resource and environment audit is an important part of China’s audit reform, but the economic growth effect of resource and environment audit is not clear in theory. Using data on regional economy and finance from 11 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2017, this study examines the short-term and long-term effects of the implementation of resource and environmental audit on regional economic growth, as well as the differences that may exist in these effects in different regions (eastern, central, and western regions). The results show that the implementation of resource and environment audit will suppress the economic growth of these provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in the short term, but will be conducive to promoting the economic growth of these provinces and cities in the long term. Resource and environment audit has a more significant impact on the economic growth of the central region, while the impact on the economic growth of the eastern and western regions is less pronounced. Therefore, long-term implementation of resource and environment audit is conducive to achieving coordinated development between the economy and the ecological environment. However, attention should be paid to the possible differences in the impact of resource and environment audit on economic growth in different provinces and cities. In the process of deepening China’s audit system reform, it is necessary to continually improve the resource and environment audit system and guide it with various policies, especially to improve the effect of resource and environment audit in the western and eastern regions to promote the long-term growth of the real economy.