Special Topics

Statistics for every state and the District of Columbia were added today to BEA’s prototype statistics on the distribution of U.S. personal income. This provides a new tool for assessing how households share in each state’s economic growth. 

For example, the share of state personal income received by the top 20 percent of households in 2021 ranged from lows of 43.1 percent in Maine and 43.7 percent in Maryland to highs of 53.8 percent in Connecticut and 54.1 percent in Wyoming, according to the prototype statistics.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis updated its prototype measures of economic well-being and growth today and for the first time released open-source code that allows users to tailor the charts and tables to meet their needs. 

The prototype measures package some of BEA’s headline statistics with data from other statistical agencies to spotlight trends in well-being and the drivers of economic growth.

Today BEA is introducing new experimental data that map our health care estimates in gross domestic product to the framework of CMS’ National Health Expenditures Account, allowing researchers to get an earlier look at 2022 health care spending numbers. The experimental data show health care spending in 2022 rose to more than $4.3 trillion, while the share of GDP declined to 17.1 percent, from a 17.5 percent share in 2021. 

The Bureau of Economic Analysis today updated its supplemental health care statistics with an improved methodology that shows the growing role of prescription drug rebates over two decades. After subtracting the rebates, BEA's estimate of health care spending in 2020 was reduced by $158 billion, or 5.3 percent, from the previous estimate for 2020.

The Health Care Satellite Account measures spending on treatment of medical conditions, such as cancer or diabetes. This more-detailed, disease-centered view supplements BEA's traditional economic statistics for a deeper understanding of health care spending patterns and policies. 

BEA is expanding its prototype statistics that provide a more complete and nuanced understanding of U.S. exports. Watch for an update and expansion of the statistics known as trade in value added, or TiVA, coming in March.

TiVA data can be used to analyze the mix of domestic value added and imported content, such as raw materials, that contributes to the goods and services exported from the United States. For example, an exported airliner assembled in the state of Washington might incorporate an engine made in Great Britain and tires made in Ohio. And the tire manufacturer in Ohio might have used rubber from China and steel belting from Mexico.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis continually explores the development of new statistics as part of its mission to provide Americans with a timely, accurate, and in-depth understanding of the changing U.S. economy. We’re working on innovations that are leading to expanded data in several areas.

Updated data are now available in BEA’s economic modeling tool used to estimate the impact of new projects or other changes in a region’s economy.

Regional planners, local officials, and investors typically use the Regional Input-Output Modeling System, or RIMS II, to assess how projects such as a new factory or the expansion of a university will ripple through an economy. RIMS II has also been used to estimate the economic impact of natural or man-made disasters, in cases where the basic structure of the local economy remained intact.

Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released prototype statistics for personal consumption expenditures, private fixed investment, and net exports of goods for Puerto Rico. These annual statistics cover the time period from 2012 to 2017.

The estimates released today are a major step toward the goal of producing gross domestic product (GDP) statistics for Puerto Rico that are consistent with international guidelines and that are directly comparable to data for other U.S. territories, states, the nation, and many other countries.

New prototype outdoor recreation statistics show state value added, compensation, and employment for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These statistics show that the relative size of the outdoor recreation economy ranged from 5.4 percent of GDP for Hawaii to 1.2 percent for the District of Columbia in 2017.

BEA will release prototype statistics on Sept. 20 showing the role that outdoor recreation – pursuits like bicycling, RVing, and fishing – plays in each state’s economy. This will mark the first time state data are included in BEA’s outdoor recreation statistics.   

An updated set of national outdoor recreation statistics will be released at the same time. Both the national and state data will cover 2012 through 2017.