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.

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.

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.

Graph and download economic data for Contributions to Percent Change in Real GDP by Industry: Gross Domestic Product (CPGDPAI) from Q2 2005 to Q1 2025 about GDP, rate, and USA.

The statistic shows the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States from 1987 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. The gross domestic product of the United States in 2024 amounted to around 29.18 trillion U.S. dollars. The United States and the economy The United States’ economy is by far the largest in the world; a status which can be determined by several key factors, one being gross domestic product: A look at the GDP of the main industrialized and emerging countries shows a significant difference between US GDP and the GDP of China, the runner-up in the ranking, as well as the followers Japan, Germany and France. Interestingly, it is assumed that China will have surpassed the States in terms of GDP by 2030, but for now, the United States is among the leading countries in almost all other relevant rankings and statistics, trade and employment for example. See the U.S. GDP growth rate here. Just like in other countries, the American economy suffered a severe setback when the economic crisis occurred in 2008. The American economy entered a recession caused by the collapsing real estate market and increasing unemployment. Despite this, the standard of living is considered quite high; life expectancy in the United States has been continually increasing slightly over the past decade, the unemployment rate in the United States has been steadily recovering and decreasing since the crisis, and the Big Mac Index, which represents the global prices for a Big Mac, a popular indicator for the purchasing power of an economy, shows that the United States’ purchasing power in particular is only slightly lower than that of the euro area.

During the period beginning roughly in the mid-1980s until the Global Financial Crisis (2007-2008), the U.S. economy experienced a time of relative economic calm, with low inflation and consistent GDP growth. Compared with the turbulent economic era which had preceded it in the 1970s and the early 1980s, the lack of extreme fluctuations in the business cycle led some commentators to suggest that macroeconomic issues such as high inflation, long-term unemployment and financial crises were a thing of the past. Indeed, the President of the American Economic Association, Professor Robert Lucas, famously proclaimed in 2003 that "central problem of depression prevention has been solved, for all practical purposes". Ben Bernanke, the future chairman of the Federal Reserve during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and 2022 Nobel Prize in Economics recipient, coined the term 'the Great Moderation' to describe this era of newfound economic confidence. The era came to an abrupt end with the outbreak of the GFC in the Summer of 2007, as the U.S. financial system began to crash due to a downturn in the real estate market.

Causes of the Great Moderation, and its downfall

A number of factors have been cited as contributing to the Great Moderation including central bank monetary policies, the shift from manufacturing to services in the economy, improvements in information technology and management practices, as well as reduced energy prices. The period coincided with the term of Fed chairman Alan Greenspan (1987-2006), famous for the 'Greenspan put', a policy which meant that the Fed would proactively address downturns in the stock market using its monetary policy tools. These economic factors came to prominence at the same time as the end of the Cold War (1947-1991), with the U.S. attaining a new level of hegemony in global politics, as its main geopolitical rival, the Soviet Union, no longer existed. During the Great Moderation, the U.S. experienced a recession twice, between July 1990 and March 1991, and again from March 2001 tom November 2001, however, these relatively short recessions did not knock the U.S. off its growth path. The build up of household and corporate debt over the early 2000s eventually led to the Global Financial Crisis, as the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble in 2007 reverberated across the financial system, with a subsequent credit freeze and mass defaults.

We use the yield curve to predict future GDP growth and recession probabilities. The spread between short- and long-term rates typically correlates with economic growth. Predications are calculated using a model developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Released monthly.

United States - GDP-Based Recession Indicator Index was 11.70000 Percentage Points in January of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - GDP-Based Recession Indicator Index reached a record high of 100.00000 in April of 2020 and a record low of 0.00000 in July of 2020. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - GDP-Based Recession Indicator Index - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on September of 2025.

From the Summer of 2007 until the end of 2009 (at least), the world was gripped by a series of economic crises commonly known as the Global Financial Crisis (2007-2008) and the Great Recession (2008-2009). The financial crisis was triggered by the collapse of the U.S. housing market, which caused panic on Wall Street, the center of global finance in New York. Due to the outsized nature of the U.S. economy compared to other countries and particularly the centrality of U.S. finance for the world economy, the crisis spread quickly to other countries, affecting most regions across the globe. By 2009, global GDP growth was in negative territory, with international credit markets frozen, international trade contracting, and tens of millions of workers being made unemployed.

Global similarities, global differences

Since the 1980s, the world economy had entered a period of integration and globalization. This process particularly accelerated after the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the Cold War (1947-1991). This was the period of the 'Washington Consensus', whereby the U.S. and international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF promoted policies of economic liberalization across the globe. This increasing interdependence and openness to the global economy meant that when the crisis hit in 2007, many countries experienced the same issues. This is particularly evident in the synchronization of the recessions in the most advanced economies of the G7. Nevertheless, the aggregate global GDP number masks the important regional differences which occurred during the recession. While the more advanced economies of North America, Western Europe, and Japan were all hit hard, along with countries who are reliant on them for trade or finance, large emerging economies such as India and China bucked this trend. In particular, China's huge fiscal stimulus in 2008-2009 likely did much to prevent the global economy from sliding further into a depression. In 2009, while the United States' GDP sank to -2.6 percent, China's GDP, as reported by national authorities, was almost 10 percent.

The 1973-1975 recession marked the end of a remarkably prosperous period for developed economies. Apart from the United States, who experienced a brief recession in 1969-70, the other nations had enjoyed a period of uninterrupted growth in the 25 years leading up to this event. Japan in particular had the fastest growth of any major economy. This ended, however, following the 1973 oil crisis, which saw the member states of the OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) place an embargo on the nations who supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War, particularly the U.S., who supplied arms to Israel. As a result, oil prices quadrupled in some periods; the U.S. and most of its major economic partners then went into recession due to their dependency on oil imports. Additional factors exacerbated the effects of the recession in each country, such as the miners' strike in the United Kingdom, or Nixon's unstable economic policies in the early 1970s. It was not until 1976 when the major OECD economies would come out of their recession, although real GDP growth rates would not return to the consistent highs experienced in the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, while GDP growth resumed within a few years, inflation rates and unemployment rates generally remained higher going into the 1980s.

As of 2022, the real GDP growth rate in Africa was estimated at 3.7 percent, decreasing compared to the previous year when it stood at 4.8 percent. Africa's real GDP is projected to keep a stable and constant growth trend between 2023 and 2027.

Negative impact of COVID-19

Starting in 2020, the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) caused economic stagnation and recession in most world regions. Economies on the African continent were also negatively affected, as the health crisis determined disruptions across all economic sectors. In 2020, Africa’s real GDP dropped to minus 1.8 percent, an exceptional negative growth rate registered on the continent. Southern Africa was the most affected region, followed by Central and Western Africa, respectively.

Forecast economic growth in Africa

In 2021 and 2022, Africa’s economy showed signs of recovery after the COVID-19 crisis. Growth was expected to continue in the following years, with the total GDP increasing from around three trillion U.S. dollars in 2020 to four trillion U.S. dollars in 2027. The African economy was set to grow at a rapid pace, especially compared to other world regions. By 2027, Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP is estimated to record a growth rate of over four percent, while the European Union’s economy would expand by less than two percent.

Some analysts and economists recently warned that the United States economy faces a much higher risk of recession should the price of oil rise to $100 per barrel or more. In February 2008, spot crude oil prices closed above $100 per barrel for the first time ever, and since then they have climbed even higher. Meanwhile, according to some surveys of economists, it is highly probable that a recession began in the United States in late 2007 or early 2008. Although the findings in this paper are consistent with the view that the United States economy has become much less sensitive to large changes in oil prices, a simple forecasting exercise using Hamilton's model augmented with the first principal component of 85 macroeconomic variables reveals that a permanent increase in the price of crude oil to $150 per barrel by the end of 2008 could have a significant negative effect on the growth rate of real gross domestic product in the short run. Moreover, the model also predicts that such an increase in oil prices would produce much higher overall and core inflation rates in 2009 than most policymakers expect.

The statistic shows the growth rate of the real gross domestic product (GDP) in Japan from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2023, Japan's GDP increased by 1.49 percent compared to the previous year. For comparison, the GDP growth rate of China had reached about 8.45 percent that same year.Gross domestic product growth rate in JapanGDP serves as one of the most heavily relied upon indicators to gauge the state and health of a country’s economy. GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services that have been produced within a nation’s borders in a given period of time, usually a year. GDP figures allow a more fundamental understanding of a country’s economy. Year-on-year GDP growth acts as a helpful and clear sign of the direction in which a country is moving in economic terms. Real GDP is especially useful and insightful as it takes price changes (inflation and deflation) into account.The gross domestic product growth rate in Japan has been shaky since the recession of 2008 struck the world economy like a bolt out of the blue and Japan is still yet to gain a solid foothold. Despite its ongoing financial predicament however, Japan remains one of the world’s most highly developed economies. The economy of Japan is the third largest worldwide by nominal GDP and the nation has a very active manufacturing sector. It is active in the auto manufacturing sector, the third largest in the world after the United States and China, and has an electronics industry that is counted among the worlds most innovative. Japan can boast many titles, but perhaps the most significant to its future stability is that which relates to its astronomical national debts, currently running at over 200 percent of GDP, roughly 10.5 trillion US dollars.

The statistic shows the growth rate of Australia’s real GDP from 2020 to 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, GDP in Australia grew by about 1.04 percent on the previous year.The recession-proof land down underGDP is one of the primary indicators used to gauge the state and health of a country’s economy. It is the total market value of all final goods and services that have been produced within a country in a given period of time, usually a year. GDP figures allow us to understand a country’s economy in a clear way. Real GDP, in a similar vein, is also a very useful indicator; this is a measurement that takes prices changes (inflation and deflation) into account, therefore acting as a key indicator for economic growth.The gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in Australia has, for sometime, been able to get a steady foothold in the somewhat shaky post-recession world, shaky, but far from catastrophic. The annual growth rate between the 2008 and 2009 financial years, for example, a time at which the world was brought to its proverbial knees, saw growth rates down under reach to 2.49 and 1.37 percent respectively on the previous years, whereas the GDP growth rate in the United States plummeted well into the minus zone. Australia, like all other capitalist nations, is at the mercy of international markets, and when the world economy takes a hit, it would be foolish to suggest it could emerge fully unscathed. However, Australia has earned some much deserved praise and attention owing to the fact that it has managed to remain recession-free for the past twenty years. This could be thanks to its abundance of raw materials, the Australian mining boom, the fact the recession came at a time of high commodity prices and, maybe most importantly, that just under a third of its exports go to China.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of all G7 countries decreased sharply in 2009 and 2020 due to the financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. The growth decline was heavier after the COVID-19 pandemic than the financial crisis. Moreover, Italy had a negative GDP growth rate in 2012 and 2013 following the euro crisis. In 2023, Germany experienced an economic recession.

United States - Dates of U.S. recessions as inferred by GDP-based recession indicator was 0.00000 +1 or 0 in July of 2024, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Dates of U.S. recessions as inferred by GDP-based recession indicator reached a record high of 1.00000 in April of 1969 and a record low of 0.00000 in January of 1968. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Dates of U.S. recessions as inferred by GDP-based recession indicator - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on August of 2025.

In 2024, the real gross domestic product (GDP) of West Virginia was 83.65 billion U.S. dollars. This is an increase from the previous year, when the state's real GDP stood at 80.8 billion U.S. dollars.

Graph and download economic data for Real Final Sales to Private Domestic Purchasers (LB0000031Q020SBEA) from Q1 1947 to Q2 2025 about final sales, purchase, domestic, private, real, GDP, and USA.

The Weekly Economic Index (WEI) of the United States exhibited notable fluctuations between January 2021 and August 2025. Throughout this period, the WEI reached its lowest point at negative **** percent in the third week of February 2021, while achieving its peak at ***** percent in the first week of May 2021. From 2021 through the initial half of 2023, the WEI demonstrated a gradual decline, interspersed with occasional minor upturns. This phase was succeeded by a period characterized by a modest overall increase. What is the Weekly Economic Index? The Weekly Economic Index (WEI) is an index of real economic activity using high-frequency data, used to signal the state of the U.S. economy. It is an index of ** daily and weekly indicators, scaled to align with the four-quarter GDP growth rate. The indicators reflected in the WEI cover consumer behavior, the labor market, and production.

The statistic shows the growth in real GDP in Brazil from between 2020 and 2024, with projections up until 2030. In 2024, Brazil’s real gross domestic product increased by 3.4 percent compared to the previous year.Brazilian growth and civic unrestGDP is a reliable tool used to indicate the shape of a national economy. It is one of the most well-known and well-understood measurements of the state of a country. Gross domestic product, or GDP, is the total market value of all final services and goods that have been produced in a country within a given period of time, usually a year.Brazil has undergone a huge economic transformation in the course of the last decade and is now one of the fastest growing economies on the planet. It belongs to the BRIC club of countries, an acronym that refers to the countries Brazil, Russia, India and China, a group of countries which are considered to be at a relatively similar stage of new and advancing economic development. Economic reforms in Brazil have given the country a boost on the international stage, which has helped it to gain significantly in recognition and influence around the world.The domestic product growth rate in Brazil is progressing throughout the years. After a minor blip in 2009, when a short recession saw the rate of growth moving slightly backwards, the economy has picked itself up and fought back with an increase of an impressive 7.53 percent in 2010. Despite the rapid growth and the perceived increase in Brazilian domestic prosperity, the gap between rich and poor remains distinct. The lower class manifested themselves in the numerous protests that erupted across the South American state in the summer of 2013. For days, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets to protest the increase of public transport fares, but the demonstrations evolved into a more general protest against increasing social inequalities among the Brazilian population, despite increased prosperity.