- US Economy
The Strange Ups and Downs of the U.S. Economy Since 1929
ByKimberly Amadeo
Updated on May 26, 2022
Reviewed by
Robert C. Kelly
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/ScreenShot2020-03-23at2.04.43PM-59de96b153e540c498f1f1da8ce5c965.png "An Annual Review of the U.S. Economy Since 1929 (1)")
Reviewed byRobert C. Kelly
Robert Kelly is managing director of XTS Energy LLC, and has more than three decades of experience as a business executive. He is a professor of economics and has raised more than $4.5 billion in investment capital.
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Fact checked byAaron Johnson
In This Article
In This Article
- Types of GDP
- US GDP by Year Since 1929
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by year is a good overview of economic growth in the United States. The table below presents the nation's GDPfor each year since 1929, compared to major economic events.
The table begins with thestock market crash of 1929and goes through the subsequentGreat Depression. It includes five wars and several serious recessions. These extreme swings in thebusiness cycleput today's economic climate in perspective. You can compare the GDP by year to fiscal and monetary policies to get a complete picture of what works and what doesn't in the U.S. economy.
Key Takeaways
- The GDP growth rate shows whether the country’s economy is flourishing or floundering.
- A negative growth rate indicates contraction.
- Real GDP takes into account inflation, so you can compare the GDP of different years.
- Nominal GDP reflects the prices for the year in which the goods were produced.
Types of GDP
TheBureau of Economic Analysiscompiles the data. Keep in mind, when reviewing this history, that theBEA measures GDP in two ways: nominal GDP and real GDP.
Nominal GDP
Nominal GDP is the total U.S. economic output for that year. The BEA also calls it the "current-dollar GDP," since it's measured as a dollar amount, and it doesn't take factors like inflation into account. Experts use nominal GDP to compare economic output toU.S. debt, which is also measured in dollars without adjusting for inflation.
Real GDP
Real GDPaccounts forinflation, making comparisons to previous years more accurate. The BEAuses it to calculate theGDP growth rateandGDP per capita. Real GDP is important because without canceling out the effects of inflation, the GDP could appear to grow, when really all that's happened is an increase in prices.
Note
To calculate real GDP, the BEA starts with a reference year. The current base year is 2012. You'll notice that nominal and real GDP are the same in 2012. Real GDP shows what GDP would have been in each year if it were priced in 2012 dollars. That's how it removes the effect of inflation.
The current base year for GDP calculations is 2012. The period from which the weights for a measurement series are derived. The national income and product accounts (NIPAs) currently use the year 2000 as the base period. Rebasing changes the reference year (or base year) for the real (chained dollar and quantity index) estimates and price indexes and expresses GDP and other NIPA aggregates in terms of the prices of one year. The effect of rebasing is to produce chained-dollar estimates that are closer to additive for periods near the new base year. It is important to note that percentage changes based upon chain-type indexes are not affected by rebasing.
Generally, the year selected as the reference year is the latest year that will not be revised until the next comprehensive update. For the 2018 comprehensive update, real estimates were rebased from chained (2005) dollars to chained (2012) dollars.
U.S. GDP by Year Since 1929, Compared to Major Events
The following chart tracks both nominal and real GDP since 1929. Some historical events and government policies are added for context.
| U.S. GDP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Nominal GDP (trillions) | Real GDP (trillions) | GDP Growth Rate | Events Affecting GDP |
| 1929 | $0.105 | $1.109 | NA | Depression began |
| 1930 | $0.092 | $1.015 | -8.5% | Smoot-Hawley |
| 1931 | $0.077 | $0.950 | -6.4% | Dust Bowl |
| 1932 | $0.060 | $0.828 | -12.9% | Hoover tax hikes |
| 1933 | $0.057 | $0.817 | -1.2% | New Deal |
| 1934 | $0.067 | $0.906 | 10.8% | U.S. debt rose |
| 1935 | $0.074 | $0.986 | 8.9% | Social Security |
| 1936 | $0.085 | $1.113 | 12.9% | FDR tax hikes |
| 1937 | $0.093 | $1.170 | 5.1% | Depression returned |
| 1938 | $0.087 | $1.132 | -3.3% | Depression ended |
| 1939 | $0.093 | $1.222 | 8.0% | WWII, Dust Bowl ended |
| 1940 | $0.103 | $1.330 | 8.8% | Defense increased |
| 1941 | $0.129 | $1.566 | 17.7% | Pearl Harbor |
| 1942 | $0.166 | $1.862 | 18.9% | |
| 1943 | $0.203 | $2.178 | 17.0% | Defense spending tripled |
| 1944 | $0.224 | $2.352 | 8.0% | Bretton Woods |
| 1945 | $0.228 | $2.329 | -1.0% | WWII ended, recession |
| 1946 | $0.228 | $2.058 | -11.6% | Truman budget cuts |
| 1947 | $0.250 | $2.035 | -1.1% | Cold War began |
| 1948 | $0.275 | $2.119 | 4.1% | Recession |
| 1949 | $0.273 | $2.107 | -0.6% | NATO, Fair Deal |
| 1950 | $0.300 | $2.290 | 8.7% | Korean War |
| 1951 | $0.347 | $2.474 | 8.0% | |
| 1952 | $0.367 | $2.575 | 4.1% | |
| 1953 | $0.389 | $2.696 | 4.7% | War ended, recession |
| 1954 | $0.391 | $2.680 | -0.6% | Dow returned to 1929 high |
| 1955 | $0.426 | $2.871 | 7.1% | |
| 1956 | $0.449 | $2.932 | 2.1% | |
| 1957 | $0.474 | $2.994 | 2.1% | Recession |
| 1958 | $0.481 | $2.972 | -0.7% | Recession ended |
| 1959 | $0.522 | $3.178 | 6.9% | Fed raised rates |
| 1960 | $0.542 | $3.260 | 2.6% | Recession |
| 1961 | $0.562 | $3.344 | 2.6% | JFK ended recession |
| 1962 | $0.604 | $3.548 | 6.1% | |
| 1963 | $0.638 | $3.703 | 4.4% | |
| 1964 | $0.685 | $3.916 | 5.8% | LBJ'sMedicare, Medicaid |
| 1965 | $0.742 | $4.171 | 6.5% | |
| 1966 | $0.813 | $4.446 | 6.6% | Vietnam War |
| 1967 | $0.860 | $4.568 | 2.7% | |
| 1968 | $0.941 | $4.792 | 4.9% | Moon landing |
| 1969 | $1.018 | $4.942 | 3.1% | Nixon took office |
| 1970 | $1.073 | $4.951 | 0.2% | Recession |
| 1971 | $1.165 | $5.114 | 3.3% | Wage-price controls |
| 1972 | $1.279 | $5.383 | 5.3% | Stagflation |
| 1973 | $1.425 | $5.687 | 5.6% | End of gold standard |
| 1974 | $1.545 | $5.657 | -0.5% | Watergate |
| 1975 | $1.685 | $5.645 | -0.2% | Recession ended |
| 1976 | $1.873 | $5.949 | 5.4% | Fed lowered rates |
| 1977 | $2.082 | $6.224 | 4.6% | |
| 1978 | $2.352 | $6.569 | 5.5% | Fed's 20% rate hike ended inflation |
| 1979 | $2.627 | $6.777 | 3.2% | Recession |
| 1980 | $2.857 | $6.759 | -0.3% | |
| 1981 | $3.207 | $6.931 | 2.5% | Reagan tax cuts |
| 1982 | $3.344 | $6.806 | -1.8% | Recession ended |
| 1983 | $3.634 | $7.118 | 4.6% | Tax hike and defense spending |
| 1984 | $4.038 | $7.633 | 7.2% | |
| 1985 | $4.339 | $7.951 | 4.2% | |
| 1986 | $4.580 | $8.226 | 3.5% | Tax cut |
| 1987 | $4.855 | $8.511 | 3.5% | Black Monday |
| 1988 | $5.236 | $8.867 | 4.2% | Fed raised rates |
| 1989 | $5.642 | $9.192 | 3.7% | S&L Crisis |
| 1990 | $5.963 | $9.366 | 1.9% | Recession |
| 1991 | $6.158 | $9.355 | -0.1% | |
| 1992 | $6.520 | $9.685 | 3.5% | NAFTA drafted |
| 1993 | $6.859 | $9.952 | 2.8% | Balanced Budget Act |
| 1994 | $7.287 | $10.352 | 4.0% | |
| 1995 | $7.640 | $10.630 | 2.7% | Fed raised rates |
| 1996 | $8.073 | $11.031 | 3.8% | Welfare reform |
| 1997 | $8.578 | $11.522 | 4.4% | |
| 1998 | $9.063 | $12.038 | 4.5% | LTCM crisis |
| 1999 | $9.631 | $12.611 | 4.8% | Repeal of Glass-Steagall |
| 2000 | $10.252 | $13.131 | 4.1% | Tech bubble burst |
| 2001 | $10.582 | $13.262 | 1.0% | 9/11 attacks |
| 2002 | $10.936 | $13.493 | 1.7% | War on Terror |
| 2003 | $11.458 | $13.879 | 2.9% | Iraq War, JGTRRA |
| 2004 | $12.214 | $14.406 | 3.8% | |
| 2005 | $13.037 | $14.913 | 3.5% | Katrina, Bankruptcy Act |
| 2006 | $13.815 | $15.338 | 2.9% | Fed raised rates |
| 2007 | $14.452 | $15.626 | 1.9% | Bank crisis |
| 2008 | $14.713 | $15.605 | -0.1% | Financial Crisis |
| 2009 | $14.449 | $15.209 | -2.5% | Stimulus Act |
| 2010 | $14.992 | $15.599 | 2.6% | ACA, Dodd-Frank |
| 2011 | $15.543 | $15.841 | 1.6% | Japan earthquake |
| 2012 | $16.197 | $16.197 | 2.2% | Fiscal cliff |
| 2013 | $16.785 | $16.495 | 1.8% | Sequestration |
| 2014 | $17.527 | $16.912 | 2.5% | QE ends |
| 2015 | $18.238 | $17.432 | 3.1% | TPP, Iran deal |
| 2016 | $18.745 | $17.731 | 1.7% | Presidential race |
| 2017 | $19.543 | $18.144 | 2.3% | Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) |
| 2018 | $20.612 | $18.688 | 3.0% | Deficit spending |
| 2019 | $21,433 | $19,092 | 2.2% | Trade war |
| 2020 | $20,893 | $18,384 | -3.4% | Covid-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | $22,996 | $19,427 | 5.7% | Covid-19 vaccine |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is GDP?
GDP is a measure of the total value of a country's economic output. Economists use it as a summary metric for the size of a country's economy.
How is GDP measured?
GDP is the total of a country's personal consumption, business investment, government spending, and net exports (exports minus imports).
What is not included in GDP?
In the U.S., the Bureau of Economic Analysis excludes certain goods and services from GDP. For instance, the value of domestic services like parental care, though significant, is not included. Intermediate goods that are used to produce other goods are also not included. Goods that are produced and sold illegally on the underground market are excluded, as well.
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Sources
The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. "Real Gross Domestic Property (GDPC1)."
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. "Transcript: Gross Domestic Product - The Economic Lowdown Podcast Series."
Bureau of Economic Analysis. "News Release." Click "Additional Information."
Bureau of Economic Analysis. "Gross Domestic Product."
Bureau of Economic Analysis. "Why Are Real Estimates Rebased?"
Bureau of Economic Analysis. "Base Period."
Bureau of Economic Analysis. “National Income and Product Accounts Tables: Table 1.1.5. Gross Domestic Product.”
Bureau of Economic Analysis. “Table 1.1.6. Real Gross Domestic Product, Chained Dollars.”
Bureau of Economic Analysis. “National Income and Product Accounts Tables: Table 1.1.1. Percent Change From Preceding Period in Real Gross Domestic Product.”
Bureau of Economic Analysis. "What Is GDP?" Pages 1-2.
Part Of
Understanding GDP
- What Is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?1 of 9
- Components of GDP Explained2 of 9
- U.S. GDP by Year, Compared to Recessions and Events3 of 9
- Real GDP, How to Calculate It, Comparison to Nominal4 of 9
- What Is GDP Per Capita?5 of 9
- Real GDP Per Capita, How to Calculate It, and Data Since 19476 of 9
- What Is the U.S. GDP Growth Rate?7 of 9
- What Is Economic Growth?8 of 9
- U.S. Real GDP Growth Rate by Year Compared to Inflation and Unemployment9 of 9
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