Browse economic indicators and data sets

The United States

Browse economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about the United States economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of the U.S. best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Constitutional federal republicc

Capital City: Washington, DC

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Currency US Dollar (USD)

International Reserves USD 251.57 billion (2021)

Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 22,939.58 billion (2021 estimate)

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) USD 22,939.58 billion (2021 estimate)

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2107 2.5%
2018 2.9%
2019 1.5%
2020 -3.4%
2021 6.0%*

*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 69,375.38 (2021 estimate)

GDP per capita – PPP USD 69,375.38 (2021 estimate)

GDP (PPP) – share of world total USD 15.86% (2021 estimate)

GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 0.9%
industry: 18.2%
services: 77.3%

(2017 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) 3.1% (2019)

OECD, retrieved January 2022
Inflation 2017 2.1%
2018 2.4%
2019 1.8%
2020 1.2%
2021 4.3%*

*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2017 2.1%
2018 2.4%
2019 1.8%
2020 1.2%
2021 4.3%*

*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: AA+

Moody’s: Aaa

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s
Unemployment rate 2107 4.4%
2018 3.9%
2019 3.7%
2020 8.1%
2021 5.4%*

*Estimate
Household saving rates 17.1% (2020)

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2017 106%
2018 107.1%
2019 108.5%
2020 133.9%
2021 133.3**

*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2017 -2.6%
2018 -3.2%
2019 -3.5%
2020 -12.7%
2021 -9.2%

*Estimate
Market value of publicly traded shares USD 40,720 billion (2020)

Largest Companies N/A

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 10.1% (2020)

Shares in world total merchandising export 8.1% (2020)

Shares in world total commercial services export 13.5% (2020)

Total exports USD 2,140.8 billion (2020 estimate)

Export commodities Refined petroleum, crude petroleum, cars and vehicle parts, integrated circuits, aircraft (2019)

Total imports USD 2,811.0 billion (2020 estimate)

Import commodities Cars, crude petroleum, computers, broadcasting equipment, packaged medicines (2019)

Exports – major partners Canada 17%, Mexico 16%, China 7%, Japan 5% (2019)

Imports – major partners China 18%, Mexico 15%, Canada 13%, Japan 6%, Germany 5% (2019)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD -796.1 billion (2021 estimate)

Current account balance by percentage of GDP -3.5% (2021 estimate)

FDI inflows 2018 USD 223,401 Million
2019 USD 261,412 Million
2020 USD 156,321 Million
FDI Outflows 2018 USD -194,412 Million
2019 USD 92,552 Million
2020 USD 92,811 Million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser 2017 USD 115,333 Million
2018 USD 253,254 Million
2019 USD 102,913 Million
2020 USD 125,192 Million
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 Verizon Communications Inc, Verizon Wireless Inc, United States, USD 130.3 billion / Walgreen Co, Alliance Boots GmbH, Switzerland, USD 15.3 billion / Burger King Worldwide Inc, Tim Hortons Inc, Canada, USD 13.4 billion / SAP America Inc, Concur Technologies Inc, United States, USD 9.1 billion / Blackstone Group LP, Gates Corp, United States, USD 5.4 billion / Microsoft Corp, Nokia Oyj-Devices & Services Business, Finland, USD 5.0 billion / Enterprise Products Partners LP, Oiltanking Partners LP, United States, USD 4.6 billion / Fiat North America LLC, Chrysler Group LLC, United States, USD 3.7 billion / Abbott Laboratories, CFR Pharmaceutical SA, Chile, USD 3.3 billion / Investor Group, Nets Holding A/S, Denmark, USD 3.2 billion / Archer Daniels Midland Co, WILD Flavors GmbH, Switzerland, USD 3.1 billion / EnCana Oil & Gas(USA)Inc, Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC- Eagle Ford Shale Assets, United States, USD 3.1 billion / Alcoa Inc, Firth Rixson Ltd, United Kingdom, USD 3.0 billion
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 Medtronic Inc, Covidien PLC, Ireland, USD 42.7 billion / General Electric Co-Energy Assets, Alstom SA-Energy Businesses, France, USD 10.7 billion / PetSmart Inc SPV, PetSmart Inc, United States, USD 8.4 billion / Honeywell International Inc, Elster Group GmbH, Germany, USD 6.6 billion / Mylan Inc, Abbott Laboratories-Non US Markets Specialty & Branded Generics Business, Netherlands, USD 5.7 billion / Eli Lilly & Co, Novartis AG-Animal Health Division, Switzerland, USD 5.4 billion / Platform Specialty Products Corp, Arysta Lifescience Ltd, Ireland, USD 3.5 billion / Otsuka America Inc, Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc, United States, USD 3.4 billion / Investor Group, Verallia SA, France, USD 3.2 billion / CommScope Holding Co Inc, TE Connectivity Ltd-Broadband Network Solutions, Switzerland, USD 3.1 billion / Iberdrola USA Inc, UIL Holdings Corp, United States, USD 3.0 billion
Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking:

6 out of 190 countries

Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 55 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 24 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 64 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 39 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 4 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 36 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 25 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 39 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 17 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 2 out of 190 countries
Global competitiveness ranking Ranking: 25 / Score: 72.1 (Mostly Free)

Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 12 / Score: 76.8 (Mostly free)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC-5

Total Area 9,833,517 sq km
Total Population 1990 249.6 Million
2000 282.2 Million
2010 309.3 Million
2015 320.7 Million
2020 329.5 Million
Urban population as % of total population 1980 70.0%
1990 75.3%
2000 73.7%
2010 79.1%
2020 82.7%
Population median age 38.5 years



CIA World Factbook / Population median age
Population growth rate 0.69% (2022 est.)

Life expectancy 80.6 years (2022 estimate)

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 1% (last available estimate, 2019)

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) 41.5 (last available estimate, 2016)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating Total score: 83/100

Status: Free

Political Rights: 32/40

Civil Liberties: 51/60 (2022)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 30.7%

Mobile: 106.2% (2020) (fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 90.9% (2020)

Language & Religon

Languages English only 78.2%, Spanish 13.4%, Chinese 1.1%, other 7.3% (2017 est.) / note: data represent the language spoken at home; the US has no official national language, but English has acquired official status in 32 of the 50 states; Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii, and 20 indigenous languages are official in Alaska

Literacy N/A

Religions Protestant 46.5%, Roman Catholic 20.8%, Jewish 1.9%, Church of Jesus Christ 1.6%, other Christian 0.9%, Muslim 0.9%, Jehovah’s Witness 0.8%, Buddhist 0.7%, Hindu 0.7%, other 1.8%, unaffiliated 22.8%, don’t know/refused 0.6% (2014 est.)

World Rankings

Population 329.5 M
Mercer Cost of living index New York: 9th
San Francisco: 16th
Los Angeles: 18th
Chicago: 37th
Honolulu: 38th
Washington: 42nd
Miami: 44th
Boston: 49th
White Plains: 56th
Houston: 59th
Dallas: 62nd
Seattle: 64th
Atlanta: 69th
Morristown: 70th
Minneapolis: 78th
Detroit: 90th
St. Louis: 94th
Pittsburgh: 97th
Cleveland: 106th
Portland: 107th
Winston-Salem: 138th

(2019)
C02 Emissions per capita 15.2 metric tons per capita (2018)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: The United States

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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