Indicators of economy in the United States of America

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Overall, the gross domestic product in the United States in 2020 decreased moderatly from 21.381 trillion US dollars to 21.060 trillion US dollars. Certainly, there have been shifts in some sectors of the economy, but a drop of 1.5 percent is still comparatively good this year. Numerous countries suffered more substantial losses. The tourism sector alone slumped by around 65 percent. The unemployment rate rose from 3.7 to 8.1 percent. The inflation rate fell from 1.8 percent previously to 1.2 percent by the end of 2020.

In 2021, there was already a recovery and the gross domestic product increased to 23.315 trillion US dollars (=109.0% of 2019).

Income and purchasing power

The average monthly income in the United States of America is 5,911 US Dollar per capita. The EU average is 3,148 US Dollar. However, the prices of daily necessities are also around 31.8 percent higher compared to the European Union. If income and price level are set off against each other, the result is a less expensive life in the United States of America than in the EU average. In the end, the higher incomes cancel out the price disadvantage and one receives about 42.4 percent more for the typical national income.

However, it is also important to remember that this is a purely statistical model. Both the labor output and the type and quality of the goods received always correspond to the national average on both sides of the equation - so they do not necessarily have to match. Here you can also find an international comparison of cost of living and purchasing power.

Unemployment rates in percentages 1991 - 2022

Economic performance 2021

In the Global Innovation Index, the United States ranked 2nd in 2022 with 61.8 points. The index is calculated annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and most recently included 132 countries. The top country was Switzerland with 64.6 points. Out of the 2,000 largest listed companies in the world, 585 originate from the United States. This is determined annually in the Forbes Global 2000 list. The 10 largest companies in the country in 2022 were:

Rank 1: Berkshire Hathaway (Omaha)
Rank 4: JPMorgan Chase (New York)
Rank 6: Amazon (Seattle)
Rank 7: Apple (Cupertino)
Rank 9: Bank of America (New York)
Rank 11: Alphabet (Mountain View)
Rank 12: Microsoft (Redmond)
Rank 15: ExxonMobil (Irving)
Rank 18: Wells Fargo (San Francisco)
Rank 19: Verizon Communications (New York)

Development of gross domestic product in trillions of USD 1960 - 2021

Imports and Exports 2021

Development of imports and exports in billions of USD 1970 - 2021