On October 29, 1929, the U.S. experienced the most devastating stock market crash in it's history. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 set in motion the Great Depression, which lasted for twelve years and affected virtually all industrialized countries. In the United States, GDP fell to it's lowest recorded level of just 57 billion U.S dollars in 1933, before rising again shortly before the Second World War. After the war, GDP fluctuated, but it increased gradually until the Great Recession in 2008. Real GDP Real GDP allows us to compare GDP over time, by adjusting all figures for inflation. In this case, all numbers have been adjusted to the value of the US dollar in FY2012. While GDP rose every year between 1946 and 2008, when this is adjusted for inflation it can see that the real GDP dropped at least once in every decade except the 1960s and 2010s. The Great Recession Apart from the Great Depression, and immediately after WWII, there have been two times where both GDP and real GDP dropped together. The first was during the Great Recession, which lasted from December 2007 until June 2009 in the US, although its impact was felt for years after this. After the collapse of the financial sector in the US, the government famously bailed out some of the country's largest banking and lending institutions. Since recovery began in late 2009, US GDP has grown year-on-year, and reached 21.4 trillion dollars in 2019. The coronavirus pandemic and the associated lockdowns then saw GDP fall again, for the first time in a decade. As economic recovery from the pandemic has been compounded by supply chain issues, inflation, and rising global geopolitical instability, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the U.S. economy.

In 2024, the U.S. GDP increased from the previous year to about 29.18 trillion U.S. dollars. Gross domestic product (GDP) refers to the market value of all goods and services produced within a country. In 2024, the United States has the largest economy in the world. What is GDP? Gross domestic product is one of the most important indicators used to analyze the health of an economy. GDP is defined by the BEA as the market value of goods and services produced by labor and property in the United States, regardless of nationality. It is the primary measure of U.S. production. The OECD defines GDP as an aggregate measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident, institutional units engaged in production (plus any taxes, and minus any subsidies, on products not included in the value of their outputs). GDP and national debt Although the United States had the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world in 2022, this does not tell us much about the quality of life in any given country. GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) is an economic measurement that is thought to be a better method for comparing living standards across countries because it accounts for domestic inflation and variations in the cost of living. While the United States might have the largest economy, the country that ranked highest in terms of GDP at PPP was Luxembourg, amounting to around 141,333 international dollars per capita. Singapore, Ireland, and Qatar also ranked highly on the GDP PPP list, and the United States ranked 9th in 2022.

View economic output, reported as the nominal value of all new goods and services produced by labor and property located in the U.S.

Graph and download economic data for Real gross domestic product per capita (A939RX0Q048SBEA) from Q1 1947 to Q2 2025 about per capita, real, GDP, and USA.

The Covid-19 pandemic saw growth fall by 2.2 percent, compared with an increase of 2.5 percent the year before. The last time the real GDP growth rates fell by a similar level was during the Great Recession in 2009, and the only other time since the Second World War where real GDP fell by more than one percent was in the early 1980s recession. The given records began following the Wall Street Crash in 1929, and GDP growth fluctuated greatly between the Great Depression and the 1950s, before growth became more consistent.

The United States recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 124.30 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2024. This dataset provides - United States Government Debt To GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Gross domestic product per capita (A939RC0A052NBEA) from 1929 to 2024 about per capita, GDP, and USA.

Government spending in the United States was last recorded at 39.7 percent of GDP in 2024 . This dataset provides - United States Government Spending To Gdp- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Net Outlays as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYONGDA188S) from 1929 to 2024 about outlays, federal, Net, GDP, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Gross Federal Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (GFDGDPA188S) from 1939 to 2023 about gross, debt, federal, GDP, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Surplus or Deficit [-] as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYFSGDA188S) from 1929 to 2024 about budget, federal, GDP, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Receipts as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (FYFRGDA188S) from 1929 to 2024 about receipts, federal, GDP, and USA.

In the past four centuries, the population of the Thirteen Colonies and United States of America has grown from a recorded 350 people around the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1610, to an estimated 346 million in 2025. While the fertility rate has now dropped well below replacement level, and the population is on track to go into a natural decline in the 2040s, projected high net immigration rates mean the population will continue growing well into the next century, crossing the 400 million mark in the 2070s. Indigenous population Early population figures for the Thirteen Colonies and United States come with certain caveats. Official records excluded the indigenous population, and they generally remained excluded until the late 1800s. In 1500, in the first decade of European colonization of the Americas, the native population living within the modern U.S. borders was believed to be around 1.9 million people. The spread of Old World diseases, such as smallpox, measles, and influenza, to biologically defenseless populations in the New World then wreaked havoc across the continent, often wiping out large portions of the population in areas that had not yet made contact with Europeans. By the time of Jamestown's founding in 1607, it is believed the native population within current U.S. borders had dropped by almost 60 percent. As the U.S. expanded, indigenous populations were largely still excluded from population figures as they were driven westward, however taxpaying Natives were included in the census from 1870 to 1890, before all were included thereafter. It should be noted that estimates for indigenous populations in the Americas vary significantly by source and time period. Migration and expansion fuels population growth The arrival of European settlers and African slaves was the key driver of population growth in North America in the 17th century. Settlers from Britain were the dominant group in the Thirteen Colonies, before settlers from elsewhere in Europe, particularly Germany and Ireland, made a large impact in the mid-19th century. By the end of the 19th century, improvements in transport technology and increasing economic opportunities saw migration to the United States increase further, particularly from southern and Eastern Europe, and in the first decade of the 1900s the number of migrants to the U.S. exceeded one million people in some years. It is also estimated that almost 400,000 African slaves were transported directly across the Atlantic to mainland North America between 1500 and 1866 (although the importation of slaves was abolished in 1808). Blacks made up a much larger share of the population before slavery's abolition. Twentieth and twenty-first century The U.S. population has grown steadily since 1900, reaching one hundred million in the 1910s, two hundred million in the 1960s, and three hundred million in 2007. Since WWII, the U.S. has established itself as the world's foremost superpower, with the world's largest economy, and most powerful military. This growth in prosperity has been accompanied by increases in living standards, particularly through medical advances, infrastructure improvements, clean water accessibility. These have all contributed to higher infant and child survival rates, as well as an increase in life expectancy (doubling from roughly 40 to 80 years in the past 150 years), which have also played a large part in population growth. As fertility rates decline and increases in life expectancy slows, migration remains the largest factor in population growth. Since the 1960s, Latin America has now become the most common origin for migrants in the U.S., while immigration rates from Asia have also increased significantly. It remains to be seen how immigration restrictions of the current administration affect long-term population projections for the United States.

At the turn of the 20th century, industrialization in Western Europe and North America saw new countries emerge (or return) as major economic powers. Germany (established in 1871) and the United States were the two countries that began to challenge the established powers such as Britain and the Netherlands on an industrial scale, while France's invigorated banking system compensated for its slow rate of industrialization. This period also saw Scandinavian countries catch up with modernization rates observed in other Western European countries; the wealth of natural resources, increased industrial output, and strong shipping networks combined to allow GDP per capita to grow at rates similar to the United States and France and Germany.

Between 1970 and 1913, GDP per capita in the three emerging regions roughly doubled, outpacing growth in countries considered economic and industrial "leaders" for most of the 1800s. While Britain had been the leading global superpower for most of the 19th century and still maintained healthy economic growth in the given period, the rise of Germany and the U.S. at this time would (and, later, the Soviet Union) go on to shape global economic development over the subsequent decades.

Historical chart and dataset showing China GDP by year from 1960 to 2023.

Japan GDP per capita for 2023 was $33,767, a 0.74% decline from 2022.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Japan GDP per capita for 2022 was <strong>$34,017</strong>, a <strong>15.08% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>Japan GDP per capita for 2021 was <strong>$40,059</strong>, a <strong>0.04% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>Japan GDP per capita for 2020 was <strong>$40,041</strong>, a <strong>0.93% decline</strong> from 2019.</li>
</ul>GDP per capita is gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Graph and download economic data for Dates of U.S. recessions as inferred by GDP-based recession indicator (JHDUSRGDPBR) from Q4 1967 to Q1 2025 about recession indicators, GDP, and USA.

We introduce a broad yet detailed data framework to assess the physical basis of modern industrial societies based on trends in their commodity demand. Using the example of the United States from 1900 to 2020, we consider both absolute commodity demand (ABS) and demand indexed to economic activity, otherwise known as intensity of use (IOU), for one hundred commodities that constitute the bulk of the material entering the US economy annually. The commodities selected are generally raw materials that enter the economy as industrial inputs that are further processed and incorporated into intermediate and finished products. The data show that ABS for nearly all the 100 commodities rose steadily until 1970 with IOU consistently rising for many as well. After that time, the trends for different groups of commodities start to diverge. Comparing ABS and IOU for the years 1970 and 2020 brings into focus the divergent trends. We find that for many metals and mineral commodities, domestic consumpt..., The database is an Excel workbook with three tabs. Tab 1 - Table S1 (Historical Data)  - Contains the reported data on apparent consumption of 100 commodities in the United States generally denominated in metric tons. These data were not generated, or calculated, but taken directly from were collected online from US government natural resources agencies. No processing of the data took place other than normalization. Table S1 also includes a times series from 1900 to 2020 on US Gross Domestic Product. Tab 2  - Table S2 (Technical notes) - Gives the source of data for each of the commodities listed in Table S1 as well as technical notes regarding the data as necessary. Tab 3 - ABS-IOU – Presents the calculated values for the variables IOU2020/1970 and ASB2020/1970 as shown in Figure 3 of the paper. These calculated values are based directly on data from Table S1., , # Data from: Is America dematerializing? Trends and tradeoffs in historic demand for one hundred commodities in the United States https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k6djh9wfq

Reported Consumption Data for 100 commodities in the United States for the years 1900-2020 (coverage subject to data availability)

Description of the data and file structure

Simple excel file. Worksheet 1 includes the historical data by commodity. Worksheet 2 contains the technical notes for each commodity including the data sources. Worksheet 3 contains the calculated values for ABS and IOU, which are shown in Figure 3. of the paper.

Sharing/Access information

Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data:

• https://phe.rockefeller.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Wernick_100-commodities-Tables-S1-S2-050624.xlsx

Data was derived from the following ...

Between 1820 and 1913, Asia's share of global GDP fell from 58 percent to just 27 percent. Although Asia's overall GDP grew throughout the given period, the rapid industrialization observed across Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand saw their combined share increase from 35 percent to 67 percent, which offset Asia's growth. In particular, the combined share of North America, Australia, and New Zealand grew over ten times larger in this period, from two percent in 1820 to 21 percent in 1913.

Unemployment Rate in the United States increased to 4.20 percent in July from 4.10 percent in June of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.